National Trails Day 2010

National Trails Day 2010 is Saturday June 5, 2010. It is a celebration that brings awareness to trails and recognizes many people for their support and hard work, including volunteers, land agencies, and outdoor minded businesses. It is also a day to introduce people to the many joys and benefits of trails. With 200,000 miles of trails in America, we have access to the natural world for recreation, education, exploration, solitude, inspiration, and good physical and mental health.

National Trails Day evolved from President Ronald Reagan’s Commission on Americans Outdoors. In 1987, the report recommended that all Americans be able to go out their front doors and within fifteen minutes, be on trails that wind through their cities or towns and bring them back without retracing steps. This recommendation became the impetus behind several parties joining American Hiking Society in launching National Trails Day in 1993.

It takes many hours of planning, labor, and negotiating to develop trails, and there are many groups involved to thank: American Hiking Society, Nature Valley, Backpacker magazine, Fetzer Vineyards, Merrell, YMCA of the USA, REI, American Park Network, Bureau of Land Management, Federal Highway Administration, National Park Service, USDA Forest Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

With already 76.7 million people hiking, 13.5 million backpacking, 40.4 million trail running, National Trails Day has grown to inspire many more people to enjoy our trails. The Directory of Kauai continues to list organized hikes around the island on our Kauai Events Calendar, and we continue to produce videos and written descriptions of Kauai Hikes for you to enjoy.