“What can I do to help care for RMC trails?” Club volunteers and our seasonal trail crew work every year, as we’ve done for over a century, to keep our trails in good condition, for safe use by the public. We’re trail stewards, and you can be one too. Any of these actions could be your contribution to the ongoing care of our trail network, helping to manage the impacts of hiker use on the trail and its surrounding environment.
Hike With Awareness. Look down as you walk, and see what you can learn about the trail and the work needed to keep it in service. How does water flow down it, or across it? Why was that bridge or ladder built in the trail? Are plants surviving along its edges?
Stay On the Trail. When you encounter stone steps, bog bridges, turnpiking, or routes between scree walls, you’re seeing our trail reconstruction work to respond to earlier erosion and other hiker impact. Follow the designated trail and let bordering areas continue to heal. Above treeline especially, take care to step on rocks only and not on fragile vegetation.
Know Your Shoulder Seasons. In spring and fall (and whenever it rains), trail erosion can happen easily. Step on rocks and hard surfaces, and leave vulnerable soils in place.
Help Keep the Trail Open. Where it’s needed, you can clear a clogged drainage, or drag a fallen branch or limb out of the way. Removing these small obstacles will help keep the next hikers on the trail.
Report Trail Conditions. If you come across a large blowdown blocking the trail, please send a message to the Trails Chair. The sooner our trail crew or a volunteer can come remove it, the less the impact on the surrounding forest.
Plan Your Trip With Care. Staying safe and not needing to be rescued is a great way to limit trail erosion. Why? Rescues of injured or cold hikers are risky and difficult, and they can also have significant impact on a trail, when a group of litter-bearers walks down in a group.
Volunteer with the RMC to brush and blaze trails. Every summer, club members and other volunteers contribute their time and trails skills across our trail network, performing essential light maintenance. Learn more at the Volunteer page.
Donate to support trail work. Your donations help us recruit and retain a paid trail crew each summer and fall, and invest in training, tools and equipment for their work. Learn more at the Donate page.
Share Our Ethic of Stewardship. Speak up and spread the word; talk with our trail crew when you find them at work along the trail; start a conversation with other hikers you meet. Join the RMC and be part of a community of trail stewards.
