Southeast Trails Program

  

A HIKING TRAIL NETWORK IN THE SOUTHEAST     

The Southeastern Trails Program is American Hiking Society’s first regionally focused initiative. This program assists trail clubs with building, promoting and protecting a 5,000-mile network of southeastern hiking trails. Whether day hiking or long distance backpacking, the Southeast Trails Program serves you by connecting trails that offer opportunities for quiet exploration.

“We’re part of a bigger picture now. We had blinders on before American Hiking established its Chattanooga office. Now I can get the answers to my questions with one quick email…to American Hiking Society’s Chattanooga office, or to any of my trail colleagues out there in the Southeast. It’s been a win-win situation.” - Jeff Brewer, Friends of the Mountains to Sea Trail

“Not only did we get assistance with our first strategic plan, but networking with organizations that have been around longer has been both inspiring and instructional. As part of our five-year strategic plan, we decided to focus on increasing visibility for our trail, which hadn’t even occurred to us until Jeffrey Hunter came out and hiked it with us. Since then, the state has invested in a parking area for us for $100,000. We’ve also secured a grant of $105,000 to construct parking, signage, and other improvements. We constructed a kiosk at the crossing on US23 and use is already up 500%. And we received a $10,000 National Trails Fund grant from American Hiking, which we used to build several miles of trail and a shelter at a historic site.” - Shad Baker, Pine Mountain Trail Conference