by Jessie Johnson, ATC Volunteer Engagement Specialist
Club Round-up: Training Opportunities
Both the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) and many Appalachian Trail maintaining clubs provide regular training opportunities, often partnering with land management agencies and other nonprofit organizations. These trainings offer volunteers and staff working on the A.T. the chance to learn or advance trail maintenance skills, reduce risk, advance leadership capabilities, and improve the quality of work being done on the A.T.
The trainings highlighted below are diverse in both their content and format, and include a week-long Trail Skills College, a trail maintainer mentorship program, train-the-trainer workshops and online resources, and certification courses in Leave No Trace, Wilderness First Aid, and chainsaw skills.
Upcoming! Intermediate Trail Skills: Improving Trail Tread and Drainage
Appalachian Trail Conservancy
Sugar Grove, VA
Aug. 18-20, Aug. 23-25
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy regularly offers experiential opportunities for trail maintainers to advance their skills and learn effective methods of teaching trail maintenance techniques to others. This hands-on, three-day experience hosted by the ATC helps participants become better equipped to improve the sustainability of trails, assist with work trip planning, and teach these skills to others.
Participants will get on-trail experience in identifying the placement and installation of tread structures, such as drainage dips and check steps, and reviewing modern trail maintenance practices, including safety, trail condition assessment, dealing with water issues, brushing, and keeping hikers on the centerline. Additionally, participants will practice effective teaching and leadership techniques so that they leave the workshop well-equipped to share skills with others in their clubs. This workshop is free and open to individuals with previous trail maintenance experience.
Trails Skills Workshop, Training Program, and Leadership Program
Presented by Georgia A.T. Club
Suches, GA
Sept. 14-15
The Georgia Appalachian Trail Club (GATC) offers numerous training opportunities for anyone interested in advancing their trail maintenance and leadership skills. The club’s Trail Skills Workshop (TSW) is a training event focused on teaching the most current trail construction and maintenance methods applicable for eastern landscapes. Skilled instructors from the GATC, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy lead sessions on a variety of trail maintenance skills for both new and experienced trail workers. The TSW is open to the public and GATC members can register at a reduced rate.
GATC also offers a robust ongoing training program that is free and open to anyone who wants to improve their trail maintenance skills. The club publishes a catalog of available courses, taught by experienced club members, with topics ranging from Introduction to Trail Maintenance to Rock Steps to Water Diversion. Additionally, GATC’s three-tiered leadership program for club members provides a clear pathway for club members to advance their leadership capabilities and take on defined roles with the club. Participants in the leadership program also can work with an experienced mentor throughout the extensive process.
Southern Appalachian Wilderness Skills Institute
In partnership with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, U.S. Forest Service, and Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards
Pisgah Forest, NC
Founded in 2011, the Wilderness Skills Institute brings together wilderness stewards from federal agencies, partners, and volunteers across the southeast to learn vital skills in preserving wilderness. The Southern Appalachian Wilderness Skills Institute offers participants the opportunity to take courses such as Wilderness First Aid and CPR, Advanced Trail Techniques, Trail Layout and Design, Southern Appalachian Ecosystems, crosscut saw, and numerous others. Held annually the weeks before and after Memorial Day, all participants are expected to sign up for an entire week but do not need to attend both weeks. The event is free and open to the public.
Trail Maintenance Workshops
Potomac Appalachian Trail Club
Various Locations
The Potomac A.T. Club is offering trail maintenance skills workshops throughout the region of trails they maintain, including the Appalachian Trail. Other skills workshops include rigging and traditional tools.
The club is also training trainers to instruct basic trail maintenance and has a goal of having at least one trainer per district. Trainers will be expected to refresh their training certification every three years and teach at least two trail maintainer events per year.
Trail Training Programs
Appalachian Mountain Club
Various locations
The Appalachian Mountain Club’s (AMC) Trail Training Program adheres to industry standards and leading-edge techniques in the world of trails and recreation management to bring skills, trainings, and regional experts to AMC’s Camp Dodge Trails Center and other AMC facilities. This robust program includes an annual Trails Skill College, AMC Chapter Volunteer Trainings, and various workshops, including chainsaw certifications, rock work progression, Wilderness First Aid, and alpine stewardship. AMC also offers customized trail training programs at Camp Dodge and off-site to its partners.
Trail Maintenance Training and Mentorship Opportunities
Blue Mountain Eagle Climbing Club
Various locations
The Blue Mountain Eagle Climbing Club (BMECC) offers trail maintenance trainings as well as mentorship opportunities to ensure that volunteers are equipped to do high-quality trail work and to help them feel confident in their ability to teach maintenance skills to others. The club’s workshops are open to both club members and the public, and topics include water bars, blazing, check steps, and brushing. Additionally, the club hosts a sawyer field day to introduce and review chainsaw skills. The field day is strategically timed to take place before club members attend their certification/recertification courses, and sawyers have a chance to share techniques and equipment, as well as a meal at the end of the day. Additionally, BMECC encourages mentorship opportunities by pairing experienced section maintainers with new volunteers who work together on a shared section of Trail.
Recently Released! Trail Skills Instructor Resources
Appalachian Trail Conservancy
In 2023, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy released a library of short, informative videos on essential trail maintenance skills to reflect standards for Essential Trail Maintenance in curriculum format. Anyone trained as a Field Leader through ATC now has access to accompanying instructor guides on the ATC website to ensure the consistent delivery of skills in essential maintenance.