As they walk along a beautiful, well kept trail, many people don’t stop to think how the trail
got to this condition. It is done by trail volunteers from the Appalachian Mountain Club Delaware Valley Chapter as well as other hiking organizations. If it weren’t for their efforts, the trails we love to hike might become filled with trash, overgrown, eroded, impassable, or might not even exist in the first place! Think of that the next time you hike on a trail, give our trail workers a deserved “thank you,” and consider becoming a trail work volunteer yourself.
It really pays to give back to the trails we love to hike. It feels good to know that you’ve done something that makes peoples’ outdoor experiences enjoyable, that you’ve supported your local community, and that you’ve helped conservation efforts,—not to mention it just feels good to put in a hard days work, exercising your muscles!
AMC-Delaware Valley offers numerous opportunities to get involved, and we are always looking for new volunteers. Crews are run on a generally open basis, meaning you do not have to commit to attending each work session. You may join in as you are able. Other options involve a specific commitment, but only at limited, specific times. The current options (south to north) are:
- The Valley Forge crew does regular maintenance on the Mt. Misery and Mt. Joy trails as well as on other popular trails at this National Historic Park.
- The French Creek State Park Crew does regular maintenance on over 30 miles of trails throughout this beautiful park in Elverson, PA.
- The Pennsylvania Highlands Trail Stewards have been working on building new trails for the Pennsylvania Highlands Trail Network (PHTN) as well as maintaining them once they are built. This work has been done in Bucks County.
- The New Jersey Highlands Trail Crew does regular maintenance on trails in Jenny Jump State Forest in Warren County, NJ as well as occasional maintenance on The Highlands Trail in western New Jersey (Hunterdon and Warren Counties)
- The Appalachian Trail Shelter Watchers are individual/couple volunteers who sign up for a specific time period to inspect and maintain the Leroy Smith and Kirkridge Shelters, privies, and campsites just off the Appalachian Trail in Northampton and Monroe Counties. There are available assignments throughout the year.
- The Appalachian Trail Crew does regular maintenance during the spring of AMC-DV’s two adopted sections of the famed hiking trail for 15 miles from Wind Gap to Little Gap in Northampton County and for 7 miles from Fox Gap to Delaware Water Gap in Monroe County.
- The Appalachian Trail Corridor Monitors are individual/couple volunteers who work in small teams to do work maintaining the Appalachian Trail boundary corridor along our 2 sections. It is generally done only one or two days per year. This is challenging, off trail work for the more adventurous.
For more information on any of these opportunities contact the AMC-DV Trails Chair, Greg Bernet, at trails@amcdv.org
