The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Crew Leads
Seven habits that I think anyone on a trail crew—or any field-based team for that matter—should think about when they head into the field.
How to Get a Job in Trails
A comprehensive guide of tips and resources for getting your first trails job.
Photographer Spotlight: Steven Phipps
“Film and the backcountry just go hand in hand. Everyone’s kinda tuning out of technology while we’re there. Just very little screen time.”
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.”
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.”