Volunteer Vacation - Hungry Mother State Park, Kentucky Trail Maintenance

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Join American Hiking Society for a week of building & maintaining trails in exciting locations across the country. Volunteer Vacations foster public land stewardship and provide volunteers the opportunity to give back to the trails they love, meet new people, and have a great time doing it! Crews consist of 6-15 volunteers accompanied by a crew leader. Volunteer Vacations involve backpacking or day hiking and accommodations vary from primitive campsites to bunkhouses or cabins. Tools and supervision are provided by the host agency or organization. Experience nature up close. Travel to new destinations. Meet other outdoor enthusiasts. Take a vacation that nourishes your body & your spirit. Get Out. Give Back.

Project Specifics:

Join Hungry Mother State Park to help convert Raider’s Run Trail from a historic horseback riding trail into a new hiking/biking trail! Many sections of the trail have been re-routed to make it more user friendly and sustainable. The trails have been bench cut on moderately steep slopes but will be improved for sustainably with water diversion features including sheet flow on the tread and out-slope and grade reversals. We will continue to improve these trails previously constructed by maintaining, improving, shaping, and defining existing hiking and mountain bike features including berms, rollers, and trail tread formations on these trails along with other necessary features. Most of the work will be spent bending, shoveling, raking, chopping, and tamping.

The project worksite is about 1 mile from the bunkhouse. Volunteers can hike or drive to the project worksite each day.

AHS acknowledges with gratitude that this project takes place on the traditional lands of the Cherokee East and S’atsoyaha (Yuchi) 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.

Accommodations: Volunteers will stay in a historical bunkhouse with five bedrooms that have twin-sized beds. Linens are not provided. All towels, bed clothing, blankets and pillows will need to be brought to the site. There are two bathrooms with a total of three showers and three toilets. There is a fully furnished kitchen with the basic supplies needed to cook meals. Stove, refrigerator, microwave, and coffee pot are included. A large living room area is available. There is also a deck out back and a porch out front with a picnic table for outdoor gatherings. Volunteers should bring their own sheets / bedding or sleeping bag, pillow, towels, and personal gear. Laundry facilities are located in the bunkhouse. Wifi is spotty throughout the park. Verizon works the best, most others can be used around the beach area.

Trip Cost: $425 per person

Volunteer Experience: While trips do not require prior trail maintenance experience, all of our projects require participants to be in good physical condition and will involve 30-40 hours of physical labor during the week.

Find More Information & Register Here: https://americanhiking.org/volunteer-vacation-trip/hungry-mother-state-park-va-volunteer-vacations-2023/