Hike, Save Trails, Make Friends!
Mark your calendar!! Our 90th Birthday Bash is scheduled for Saturday June 8th, noon to 3pm at Lake Julian Park. We'll be celebrating the Club's 90th anniversary and Lew Blodgett's 90th birthday. Cake, fun, and prizes. To find out more click here ...90th Anniversary
This July, CMC is hosting the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Biennial Conference at Western Carolina University. Sign up for this very exciting program. Discount for early registration through May 31st! Details here
Trail building
Our faithful trail builders at work with their Hazel Hoes on the MST March 16th
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Trail building
Our faithful trail builders at work with their Hazel Hoes on the MST March 16th
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Trail building 2
Club members extending the MST near Soco Gap on March 16th - look at those felled trunks!
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Rough Creek
Rough Creek Club hike on March 20th
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Moore Cove
Moore Cove Club hike March 30th
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Lower Big Laural Creek
March 31st Club hike at Lower Big Laural Creek
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Bent Creek
Stuart English leads a hike in Bent Creek April 7th
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Given Estate
Don Walton leads a group to explore the Given Estate Trails on April 7th
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Rube Rock
Bruce Bente leads a group on the Rube Rock/Groundhog Creek loop. April 21st
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Big Ivy
Marcia Bromberg leads a group finding April flowers before the May showers!
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Skinny Dip Falls
Club hike on May 12th to Skinny Dip Falls...
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How to Participate
The main activities of the Carolina Mountain Club are hiking and trail maintaining. You are invited to join before you participate, or you may come with us for a day or two of hiking or trail maintenance before you decide to join. Non-members must contact the event leader ahead of time.
In addition, there are other recreational and organizational activities in which you can take part or assume a leadership role. Since the Carolina Mountain Club is a non-profit organization and has no paid officers or staff, members donate hundreds of hours each month for the variety of functions necessary to accomplish our mission.
The primary objective of the Carolina Mountain Club is to explore and enjoy the mountains of Western North Carolina and adjacent regions by hiking their trails. We do this by offering three to five hikes each week--from easy half-day hikes to challenging, fast-paced all day hikes. Our hikes offer something for everyone--exercise, natural beauty, companionship, mountain history and culture, and adventure. Hikes are available to non-members as well as members of the Club. However, if you're not yet a member of the CMC you must contact the hike leader in order to join a scheduled hike. All hikes are led by members who volunteer their time, expertise and love of hiking. So pull on those boots, shoulder the backpack, and join us on the trail!
The Conservation Committee will inform Club members of issues that may affect the hiking experience in the Club’s day-hiking area. The Committee will encourage Club members to voice their opinions on important issues identified by the Committee. The Committee will publicly advocate accepted Club positions on key issues when approved by the Council.
Trail building and maintenance is the second major activity of the CMC. Males and females of all ages are invited to participate. Trail maintenance is a good way to stay physically and mentally healthy. We have groups that go out weekly, bi weekly and quarterly. If you can't go out with a group we have sections of the Mountains to the Sea Trail and Appalachian Trail that need stewardship too.
The Education Committee plans workshops and events on a variety of topics related to hiking. In the recent past, courses were offered on Orienteering and Wilderness First Aid. Committee members are currently working with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy to offer opportunities for family hiking. Contact a member of the Education Committee with suggestions or to get involved.
Carolina Mountain Club administers four official programs that challenge hikers to reach a collection of outdoor destinations. These challenges include South Beyond 6000 (SB6K) - hiking the 40 southeastern 6,000 foot peaks; Lookout Tower Challenge (LTC) - hiking 24 fire towers in WNC; Pisgah 400 (P400) - hiking all 400 miles of trails in the Pisgah Ranger District, and Waterfall & Cascade 100 (WC100) - hiking 100 of WNC's most spectacular waterfalls. Take the challenge and earn your patch today!
