NEW EVENT FOR 2024: Trail Love: Michaux Edition
With assistance from many partners, KTA initiated a new format for a Trail Care Event in 2024. The inaugural Trail Love Weekend was held in the Michaux State Forest to coincide with National Trails Day on June 1, 2024. After an optional campout the night before, more than 50 enthusiastic volunteers converged that memorable Saturday, forming seven crews working at multiple sites on four local trail systems. Projects included new trail construction, stair building, trail trimming (brushing), campsite restoration, sign installation, water diversion structures, and more. Of the volunteers who responded to the question, 15 indicated zero experience with trail maintenance prior to Trail Love, and feedback was exceedingly positive. Hearty meals, dignitary remarks, tie-dye T-shirts, and post-fieldwork musical entertainment were part of the mix.
KTA's Trail Love partnership encompassed a robust network of organizations, including South Mountain Partnership, Friends of Michaux, Friends of Pine Grove, Friends of Kings Gap, Central Pennsylvania Conservancy, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry, Bureau of State Parks, and the Appalachian Trail Museum. A South Mountain Partnership Mini-Grant was awarded to the Keystone Trails Association for the planning and development of the Trail Love event.
KTA's Trail Love partnership encompassed a robust network of organizations, including South Mountain Partnership, Friends of Michaux, Friends of Pine Grove, Friends of Kings Gap, Central Pennsylvania Conservancy, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry, Bureau of State Parks, and the Appalachian Trail Museum. A South Mountain Partnership Mini-Grant was awarded to the Keystone Trails Association for the planning and development of the Trail Love event.
Photos from Trail Love: Top left: steps construction on Koppenhaver Trail in Pine Grove Furnace State Park (Jenn Ulmer photo); Top middle: Crews choosing tools at Hearth Tender Trail trail digging (photo from volunteer photographer Brandon Raubenstine); Top right: Signs installed on Buck Ridge Trail near Kings Gap (photo Haley Feaster), Bottom: group photo (photo from Brandon).
