National Trails Day

What is National Trails Day® All About?

Taking place on the first Saturday in June, National Trails Day® is a day of public events aimed at advocacy and trail service. Thousands of hikers, bikers, rowers, horseback riders, trail clubs, federal and local agencies, land trusts, and businesses come together in partnership to advocate for, maintain, and clean up public lands and trails.

Carolina Mountain Club has hosted events starting in 2018 at Max Patch in support of NTD.  
These events are part of a larger scope multiyear effort of Visitor Use Management at Max Patch to restore the area to its status as a crown jewel of the region and the A.T.

Project goals for 2019:

1. Rebuild the A.T. and blue blaze access trails to a sustainable condition
2. Eliminate other user trails which cause erosion and habitat loss
3. Improve signage and information to encourage positive visitor  behaviors
4. Reestablish habitat to return warblers, butterflies, and other native fauna to the bald, replant native species
5. Publicize work of CMC and ATC and get new members/maintainers
6. Improve knowledge of stewardship and visitor impact to MP

Sponsors

• REI
• Farm to Feet
• Sierra Nevada
• Mast General Stores
• Other

Logistics

Registration

• CMC will post event flyer and info sheet on CMC web site along with signup sheet
• Limit to 125 persons (about 20% no shows in 2018)
• Set up tent at Home Depot by 7:45 June 1st
• Waivers to be signed at HD by all new volunteers, assign to work groups at that time
• Organize car pools to work site, at least 4 persons per vehicle, assign CMC volunteer to do this
• Plan to have everyone on the way by 8:15 with work groups assigned

Max Patch

• Plan to arrive between 9:15 and 9:30
• Block parking by 8 am for our use
• Set up REI/brewery tent at parking with water/snacks
• Coordinate
  1. Speakers
  2. Media
  3. Government
• Final work group organization and send off
• Lunch on top for all work groups as possible
• Wrap work day at 1:30, car pool back to Home Depot

Brewery

1. Post event starting at 3 pm
2. REI, ATC, and CMC tables set up, part of trails festival in Lower Park
3. REI giveaways
4. One beer ticket per adult at event
5. Wrap up tables by 5 pm

Notes from 2019 event at Max Patch:

• Great support from crews getting prework done including locust log prep, signage, tread work, steps
• NTD event had 88 attendees including the youth hike (3)
• 108 signed up for trail work, 53 CMC maintainers
• Attendees from Charlotte, SC, Taiwan
• 11 work stations led by experienced CMC maintainers, detailed work plans made by Paul for each station
• Promotion by REI, posters, Sierra Nevada, social media, CMC web site and enews
• Good coordination prior with Cherokee and Pisgah NF and ATC
• Improved signage at parking and on trail
• Habitat for golden winger warblers and butterflies/pollinators protected and established
• Agreement to no mowing 2019
• Post event at Sierra Nevada went well, part of trails festival with 10 booths in Lower Park, music
• Several new maintainers on board
• ~2000 hours worked on Max Patch in 2019
• Visitor User Management (VUM) process in place for long term planning with ATC and FS
• Completed 300 feet of split rail fence behind kiosk
• Installed kiosk viewing platform with steps, water diversion, and gravel fill
• Designed and installed map and habitat aluminum signs and posted 14 on site
• Filled 100 steps with gravel
• Installed 30 steps
• Installed 15 water bars and diversions
• Rehabbed 300 feet of tread
• Thinned 200 feet of the rhododendron tunnel
• Installed 5 check dams with gravel
• Vast majority of signups heard about it from the ATC, REI, and CMC websites and enews
• Changes for 2019:
  • Eliminated van rentals
  • Allowed more signups.  Of 118 signups, we got 87 or 74%.  81% of 53 CMC signups came, and 68% of 65 non CMC signups came on a very nice weather day.
  • Assigned a photographer for the event

  Areas needing improvement:

  • Web sign up did not indicate success, got lots of emails asking if they got their name in.  Need to confirm with individuals
  • Need better sign up for future work process both with volunteers and with general public at brewery event
  • Youth hike only had one participant
  • Did not get ATC van
  • Only about ¼ of volunteers came to post event
  • Need radios at work site
  • Need a coordinator for car pools at HD
  • Tool trailer
  • No media or legislators at event

  Notes from our 2018 event at Max Patch:

  • Great support from crews getting prework done including locust log prep, signage, tread work, steps
  • NTD event had ~92 attendees including the youth hike
  • 88 signed up for trail work, about 1/3rd CMC maintainers
  • Attendees from Charlotte, Knoxville, VA
  • 12 work stations led by experienced CMC maintainers, detailed work plans made by Ann for each station
  • Promotion by REI, posters, and newspaper
  • Good coordination prior with Cherokee and Pisgah NF and ATC, support from CMC Council
  • Improved signage at parking and on trail
  • Planting of native species and fencing to allow restoration to occur
  • Habitat for golden winger warblers protected and established, 2 nesting pairs now on site
  • Agreement to no mowing 2018
  • Post event at Hi-Wire well received
  • Much work was accomplished, including 88 locust steps and 12 box steps on nb staircase, trail widening and water diversion on sb and nb approaches as well as blue blaze trails, rehabbing of trail from summit nb including gravel filled check dams and moving trail onto sideslope
  • 2 new AT maintainers on board and doing great
  • ~2900 hours worked on Max Patch in 2018
  • Visitor User Management (VUM) process in place for long term planning with ATC and FS
  • 3 panel kiosk installed Feb 2019
  • Split rail fence behind kiosk completed Feb 2019

https://americanhiking.org/national-trails-day/