2025 NextGen Trail Leaders Celebrate National Trails Day
From group hikes that brought communities together on the trail, to clean ups, and educational chats about stewardship, American Hiking Society’s NextGen Trail Leaders had an incredible, positive impact on the trails and the outdoor community in honor of our 33rd National Trails Day® on Saturday, June 7, 2025!
Brandan Freeman
Brandan and Shades of the Outdoors: A BIPOC Outdoor Enthusiast Community helped to build and foster community on the trail with a BIPOC hike for National Trails Day®.
A group of twenty BIPOC outdoor enthusiasts and allies gathered at County Farm Park for a morning hike— many of whom were discovering American Hiking Society for the first time. As they laced up their boots and set out together, attendees learned about AHS’s mission and eagerly took the National Trails Day® pledge to leave trails and communities better than they found them.
Brandan shared, “In this social climate having community is huge for people of color. Knowing that an organization as prominent as AHS is positioning itself as a supporter of the BIPOC community made a lot of participants comforted, hopeful, and encouraged.”
Anjelica Avella
Anjelica and her trail community headed out to Griffith Park which is home to numerous trails, many of which Anjelica has used to train for more intense mountains.
Anjelica has hosted so many special hikes in Griffith Park that it only seemed right to give this beloved outdoor space some much needed love. The group of ladies devoted their Saturday morning to picking up trash to help leave the trail better than they found it. Anjelica shared, “It’s important to pack out all of your trash and be aware of your small wrapper trash pieces too!” They picked up a lot of bottles and cans and a ton of micro-trash like cigarette butts and orange peelings.
“It’s important more now than ever to be stewards and take care of the trails that have done so much for us,” Anjelica noted.
Ryanne Crary
Ryanne celebrated National Trails Day at the Highlands Center for Natural History. Event participants gathered together to enjoy a day outdoors in celebration of the trails and had the opportunity to hike together with an Arizona Master Naturalist!
Ryanne noted, “We had 25 hikers join us and had a great time discussing ways to take care of their trails and local youth hiking challenges in the area.”
The group trekked through the pines of Prescott National Forest, and got to cool off at Lynx Creek. After the hike, all were encourage to take the the National Trails Day® pledge, enjoy some fun swag and gifts, and learn more about how to be an environmental steward to ensure the trails are preserved for generations to come.
