National Trails Day is Around the Corner

Saturday June 4th is National Trails Day and there's a lot of hikes and volunteer activities being held all over the place just for this occasion. In addition, our President just declared June as National Great Outdoors Month.




So what are your plans for Trails Day? Are you going on a hike or planning on giving back by volunteering in a trail maintenance activity? Let us know, we'd love to hear your plans. If your having troubles find activities or don't know what's available, check with your local State or National Parks. There's plenty of opportunities and it's not hard to find them. Remember Google is your friend.



For the East Tennessee area there are all sorts of events planned for different parks from hikes to clean ups and even trail maintenance. Tennessee State Parks page has a whole list of events on their website. To name a few, there is a trail work project to celebrate Trails Day at Frozen Head State Park on Saturday. Call the park office at 423-346-3318 for more information.

Cumberland Trail Conference - Call for Volunteers

Spring is almost here and it's time to get outdoors. State parks, national parks, natural areas, and more offer an abundance of hiking trails, camping spots, and other outdoor recreational opportunities. However, the only way these outdoor destinations can continue to provide us with that escape from society and/or technology requires more than what the employees (park rangers, maintenance crews, etc.) can handle. That's where we, the outdoor lovers come in. We enjoy these places. Otherwise we wouldn't be out there. It's time to give back though. There are plenty of opportunities to pay it forward, to show our appreciation, to show that we care and want to continue to enjoy our natural environments.

This year we've already mentioned the volunteer opportunities available at Frozen Head State Park in Wartburg, TN. Now we have another opportunity to list, and this one is just as near and dear to our hearts as Frozen Head. The Cumberland Trail Conference (CTC) is need of volunteers. Remember that grant survey from the CTC that we posted last week? Well they are ready to get the project rolling and have several dates in the books for the New River segment projects. In addition to these projects, they also have a few trail maintenance projects for the Obed segment, a different portion of the New River Segment, and the Tennessee River Gorge segment of the trail.

So hop on over to the CTC's volunteer page, see what's on the schedule, and sign up to be a volunteer. They will be glad you did, and we would be too. I'm hoping that we can make it out to lend a helping hand on some of the weekends myself.

Happy Trails,
Tim and Robin

Volunteer Trail Days - Frozen Head State Park

The new year has been in full swing for nearly two weeks now. We've seen a lot of weather here in East Tennessee, and due to that, there's sure to be some damage on the trails we know and love. If your resolution for 2011 was to give back then there's plenty of opportunities. I know that we enjoy getting on the trail and hiking until our hearts are content, but if it wasn't for the volunteers who sacrifice their weekends to maintain the trails we love, our hike would be more laborious, or worse - unavailable - to us to enjoy.

One of our favorite camping and hiking destinations is Frozen Head State Park in Wartburg, TN. There's over 80 miles worth of trail hiking at Frozen Head and to keep these trails up takes a lot of hard work. This weekend on Saturday, January 15th will be the first of many opportunities to give back. Everyone wishing to volunteer should meet at the park office/visitor center at 9am equipped with a daypack and water, appropriate clothing for the weather, sturdy hiking shoes, and a will to work/give back.

Work to be done will be announced before hitting the trail. Moderate hiking maybe required. Work should be completed and crews returning to the visitor center by 3:00pm or before.

If you can't make it this weekend, don't fret. There will be plenty more opportunities throughout the year. The rest of the year's volunteer trail maintenance dates are March 19, May 21, June 4 (this is the same day as National Trail's Day), July 16, August 20, September 17, October 15, and November 19.

So be sure to make an effort to give back to your local, state, or national parks if you can. We'd love to be at this one, but I'm on call this weekend. Hopefully, we can make it to the next date.

For a complete list of volunteer trail days and other events at Frozen Head State Park go here.

Happy Trails,
Tim and Robin