About the Community Hikes Program
The Maine A.T. Land Trust’s Community Hikes program provides free guided hiking trips to the general public from May to October and then from January to March. There are typically two to three hikes per month (depending on weather) and trips are guided by trained trip leaders. The program has been enormously successful at bringing individuals to the A.T. landscape but they can fill up quickly! The limit for participants is usually 5-8 individuals. If a hike you would like to attend is currently filled up, please email us at info@matlt.org to get on the waiting list. Summer hikes will be listed in May, winter hikes will be listed in December, so check back if you don’t see any!
Fall 2024 Update
We typically have 3-4 hikes in the fall season but due to some trip leader travel and downtime, we will probably be offering fewer this fall. But please continue to check back and sign up for the MATLT newsletter to make sure you know when new hikes are posted!
Dates: August 4 to 11, 2017
Location: Colby College, Waterville, Maine
Event Overview: The Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) holds a conference every two years at different locations in the Eastern US. This week-long event includes over 240 hikes, numerous workshops, and excursions to local areas of interest. The conference will also include ATC’s 41st membership meeting. Each evening there are exciting adventure presentations and stellar entertainment. The event draws people from around the world, but primarily from locations along the nearly 2,200 mile Appalachian Trail (A.T.). At the last conference held in Maine (1997 Sunday River), 1,380 people participated. We anticipate over 1,200 attendees in 2017.
About the ATC: The ATC, established in 1925, is a national not-for-profit that is both a confederation of 31 local organizations with assignments to maintain the A.T. and a membership organization with support from all 50 states and more than 15 other countries. Under agreements that date back to the 1930s, buttressed by federal legislation in 1968 and 1978, ATC leads a cooperative-management system for the A.T. that includes the National Park Service and USDA Forest Service at national, regional, and district levels, numerous state parks, a variety of agencies in 14 states and other land management organizations.
About the A.T.: The A.T. is one of the longest continuously marked footpaths in the world, measuring roughly 2,180 miles. The A.T. goes through fourteen states along the crests and valleys of the Appalachian mountain range from the southern terminus at Springer Mountain, Georgia, to the Trail’s northern terminus at Katahdin, Maine. The A.T. was completed in 1937 (near Sugarloaf Mtn.) and is a unit of the National Park System. It is estimated that 2 to 3 million people visit the A.T. every year.
Opportunities for People in Maine to Get Involved:
For more information:
Conference Website: www.atc2017.org
To Volunteer: www.appalachiantrail.org/Maine2017Volunteers
To be a Sponsor or Exhibitor, mail to: Exhibits2017@ATconf.org
Hosted by: Maine Appalachian Trail Club and Appalachian Mountain Club – Maine Chapter