Special Registration Rate! Eldorado National Forest, CA – Volunteer Vacations 2023

USE CODE: 2023USFSEldoradoVV for a special registration fee of $200 thanks to grant funding received for this project. To register at this price please select “First Trip of the Year” registration cost. Additional trip discount not available for this special rate.

Join this project to backpack into a stunning river valley of granite and pine trees and help restore access along this popular canyon trail. The Mokelumne River Canyon has been described as a smaller version of the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River in Yosemite National Park. Sections of the canyon are up to a mile deep. Granite is predominate and the Munson Meadow trail is in some places a trail engineering marvel. The Munson Meadow trail is 9.5 miles long and is in need of trail maintenance. The trail was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The trail is relatively flat for 6 miles as it passes Long Lake at mile 4 where the first campsite is. After mile 6, the trail drops steeply into the Mokelumne River Canyon. At mile 7.5 is the second camp, which has incredible views overlooking the canyon. There are trail maintenance needs above and below both camps with the majority of the work needed at the second camp. Volunteers will support this work through brushing, crosscut saw work, and tread repair.

Volunteers will backpack and camp near the project worksite, moving camp halfway through the trip. The first camp is four miles in with an elevation loss of 700′. The second camp is 3 miles further with an additional elevation gain & loss of 1600′. Daily hiking to work sites from the camping location will vary from less than a mile with an elevation gain/loss of 550 vertical feet near the 2nd camp site on up to 3 miles with an elevation gain/loss of 150 vertical feet near the first campsite. Volunteers will need to carry their personal gear and a portion of the food/tools/cooking gear to base camp.

There is no experience needed to join a Volunteer Vacation! Your expert hosts will provide detailed instruction, tool demonstrations, and project oversight throughout the week. All you need is a willing attitude and to be in good physical condition to participate in moderate physical activity for approximately 6-8 hours a day with plenty of breaks, at your own pace. Find out more about what it’s like to join a Volunteer Vacation and other frequently asked questions here.

AHS acknowledges with gratitude that this project takes place on the traditional lands of the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla Wašišiw Ɂítdeʔ (Washoe) and Nisenan peoples past and present. We honor the land itself, the Indigenous communities who have stewarded this land for generations, their deep and sacred connection to these lands, and those who continue to steward these lands today. We offer this land acknowledgement as the first of many steps to stand as an ally and amplify Indigenous voices. We invite the American Hiking Society community to join us through continued efforts to support Indigenous communities and learn more about the history of the lands on which we live, work and recreate.