Things to Consider when Making your Crew Request

  • American Hiking strongly encourages one-week or shorter projects since many participants cannot commit to longer periods of time. (Trips up to 10 days in length can be accommodated if your project involves travel into the backcountry)
    • Most trips have volunteers arriving on Sunday, working M-F, and departing on Saturday.
    • We encourage you to factor in a half to full-day of free time for volunteers to explore the area.
  • You can schedule your project for any time during the year.  Historically, the bulk of trips are in the summer and fall.
    • Consider weeks when the weather would be ideal to host a volunteer crew and when accommodations would be available.
    • If your location is known for seasonal attractions (i.e. Fall foliage or Spring blossoms), consider hosting in that time-frame to attract more volunteers.
  • Most crews have 6-15 crew members. (to provide more volunteers the opportunity to 'give back' we generally will not accept crew requests with a maximum that is less than 6)
  • Some volunteers will gravitate towards camping style trips and many will only consider trips with indoor accommodations.
    • Providing access to a shower before the crew's departure is strongly encouraged if showers are not available during the week.
  • Providing an airport pickup is strongly encouraged.  Many volunteers will only look at trips that provide an airport pickup.
  • Any government agency or non-profit organization can request a crew.  (Non-profit organizations must be American Hiking Alliance Members to host a trip)

 

The mission of the Volunteer Vacations program is to provide land managers with much needed assistance, maintaining and building hiking trails, while also providing our volunteers with a safe, organized and enjoyable vacation experience.  Because we strive to fulfill both parts of this mission, we might not be able to accept all the project requests that we receive.  Factors that we consider when looking at whether or not a crew request is a good fit for our program and volunteers are as follows:

  • Does the project fit into American Hiking’s mission to promote, protect and give back to America’s foot trails and the hiking experience?
  • Will there be sufficient national interest to meet the project minimum?
  • Can the host provide the necessary supplies (lodging, tools, project plan, supervision) and fulfill the host responsibilities?
  • Does the project fit into the program’s goal to offer a variety of project locations and diversified trail maintenance options for our volunteers?

If you have questions about the crew request process, please contact Ellie Place at EPlace@AmericanHiking.org or call 800-972-8608 ext. 704.