American Hiking Society Announces Grant Recipients for 2025 National Trails Day® Micro-Grant Program

This grant is designed to reduce barriers for underrepresented communities to celebrate National Trails Day® on June 7, 2025.

Silver Spring, MD — American Hiking Society is proud to announce the recipients of its 2025 National Trails Day® Micro-Grant Program. The grant program is designed to reduce barriers for underrepresented communities to participate in meaningful events celebrating American Hiking Society’s 33rd annual National Trails Day®, taking place Saturday, June 7, 2025.

Three community-led events have been selected to receive $1,500 each to support in-person National Trails Day® celebrations. This year’s recipients represent underrepresented communities in the outdoors and were selected based on their commitment to fostering inclusivity, accessibility, and meaningful community connections through outdoor experiences. Each organizer brings a deep understanding of the importance of creating safe, welcoming spaces that invite people of all backgrounds to connect with nature and one another.

“We are proud to support these community-driven events through the National Trails Day® Micro-grant Program,” said Heather Klein Olson, Executive Director of American Hiking Society. “By breaking down barriers and investing in local communities, we’re advancing our vision of an outdoors that is truly for everyone. These events reflect the heart of National Trails Day® — connection, stewardship, and equity on the trails.”

Held annually on the first Saturday in June, National Trails Day® is a nationwide celebration focused on trail service, advocacy, and bringing local communities together in the outdoors. The event inspires people of all ages and abilities to get outside and take action to enjoy and preserve the trails and public lands they love.

We’re proud to support these events and amplify their efforts to create lasting impact.

The 2025 National Trails Day® Micro-Grant Recipients:

The Kewa Teens Reaching Unity Through Harmony Youth Council in Partnership with Santo Domingo Pueblo Tribal Programs
The Kewa Teens Reaching Unity Through Harmony Youth Council in partnership with Santo Domingo Pueblo Tribal Programs will be hosting a National Trails Day event that aims to benefit the entire Santo Domingo Pueblo community, encompassing young people, parents, guardians, and respected elders. To foster community connection and cultural learning, their event will include a trip for 20 Santo Domingo Pueblo members (youth, parents, guardians, and elders) to Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, ancestral lands of Cochiti Pueblo. The day will include a hike, a service project focused on trail maintenance, a community lunch, and water activities at Cochiti Dam & Lake. A key element of the experience will be a presentation by a Cochiti Pueblo tribal representative, sharing the area’s history and cultural importance. The event will emphasize the importance of respectful engagement with these ancestral lands.

The Texas Neurofibromatosis Foundation
The Texas Neurofibromatosis Foundation’s National Trails Day event will serve Neurofibromatosis patients and their families to provide a safe and accessible nature experience. Event participants will have everything they need to be able to participate in an accessible hike, from trekking poles, wheelchairs, and other accessibility items that a participant may need to be able to participate in the hike, to snacks, drinks, and electrolytes to ensure they have all the fuel they need to enjoy celebrating the trails. Participants will be able to take a break from the day-to-day struggle of Neurofibromatosis, and enjoy learning about Texas’s native plants and exploring the trails of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

City of Olympia, in Partnership with the Parks Stewardship Program
The staff of the City of Olympia, in partnership with the Parks Stewardship Program, Committee on Diversity and Equity, and Oly QT, are hosting their first National Trails Day Pride Event to give the LGBTQIA+ community an opportunity to share their passion for environmental restoration while feeling safe and celebrated for who they are. They will remove English ivy, Himalayan blackberry, and English holly from trails, then spread 3-4 inches of wood chips from the fallen trees our arborists remove. This should help deter the growth of the non-indigenous plants and protect the area for possible replanting in the winter months. They have a very active environmental stewardship community, and no one has held an event like this during Pride Month.

To learn more about National Trails Day® and the micro-grant program, please visit NationalTrailsDay.org.