Sign Study: Navajo National Monument
Navajo National Monument has the most beautiful signs I’ve ever seen at a National Park site. I want to know who made them.
“Crosscut” traverses a life-changing season through poetry.
In Crosscut, Sean Prentiss saturates our senses with the ding of a rock bar, the reek of loam, and the feeling of a well-oiled Pulaski handle.
Project Spotlight: Tres Sendas Bridge
A stunning, single log bridge in the Redwood forests of Oakland, CA.
Lessons From John McCarthy’s “Working the Wilderness”
Working the Wilderness is more than Idaho history—it’s a story about people who give a damn.
Robot
A poem by Maddi Bacon.
Where Do Federal Employees Go From Here? It’s Not On Vacation.
“In the park, I look around me at my rigorously idealistic, calloused-palm colleagues; at the harrier hawk that tips and swivels in a curling updraft. There is no wealth like this; the power of loving it is unassailable. These are real. The email isn’t real.”
Gallery: Big Sur Bridge Build
Highlines and bridge-building in the rugged canyons of Big Sur.
Portrait Gallery
Full gallery of portraits, with links to full interviews.
Gallery: Ben Johnson Project, Muir Woods, CA
From reclaimed logs to reconstructed trail, explore this on-going project by the Golden Gate Trail Crew in a series of photos.
Photographer Spotlight: Seth Foltz
Trail crew member and photographer Seth Foltz spent the 2024 season on Mt. Shavano, capturing incredible moments with his camera in between swings of his pick-mattock.
Zachi Anderson: “Make trails more than a dotted line.”
“Money has gotten us greed. Money has gotten us famine. Money has gotten us global pollution and warming. Money is a handy tool, but it's not a healthy obsession. The things that bring us the most meaning is helping, is being a gift, is showing up and being valued, making a difference, really feeling like you belong.”
How to Get a Job in Trails
A comprehensive guide of tips and resources for getting your first trails job.
Counting Steps: Riley Dunn Studies Stairs on the Appalachian Trail
Riley Dunn hiked the 2,192-mile Appalachian Trail, and counted every stair in 3,605 staircases along the way.
Tracy McClelland: “Trails is the best therapist we have”
“I truly believe that trails are the best therapy for the people of our country. People would do better if they took a heavy backpack with all the shit that they believe they need in the world and walk out and deal with themselves.”
Smokey’s Lost Brethren: Obscure and Forgotten Mascots of Land Management
A roundup of PSA mascots who never quite made it as big as Smokey Bear.
Gallery: Steep Ravine
Steep Ravine is a fantastic showcase of trailbuilding techniques, as it features retaining walks, rock steps, several bridges, and even a 14-rung wooden ladder.
The Ten Commandments of Trails
Yosemite Trails veteran Jim Snyder’s “Ten Commandments of Trails”
Woody White: Not Done Yet
“I'd work with the same animals year after year. I'd have more continuity with the animals, more of a connection with them than I did some of the trail crew members. Our animals work, but they're cared for. I love them and give them attention and try to make them as comfortable as I can and don't overload them.”
Dietary Hitches
“For the longest time, I avoided anything to do with the backcountry because of my diet. “
Hannah Huscher: Building Back Better
“We were in it together. Our season there was pretty rough. We woke up in the morning and it was like 10 degrees. It was negative 16 degrees overnight. We're waking up thinking, ‘this sucks, but we're in it together.’ That's what made me want to stay.”