Volunteer Vacation - Touch of Nature Environmental Center, Illinois Trail Maintenance

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: Touch of Nature Environmental Center hosts experiential education programs that utilize the many natural resources on and around its 3,400 acres located in beautiful Southern Illinois. These programs offer opportunities for all people and focus on traditional outdoor activities, environmental education, and adventure pursuits. Touch of Nature is currently working to create 15 additional miles of trail to the existing trail system in Shawnee National Forest. This project includes maintaining existing trail with actions such as brushing, clearing water bars, and retreading eroded surface. The main component of this project, however, is helping to clear and bench cut the new sections of trail on Touch of Nature Property. Project days will require 1-3 mile hikes to work sites, while carrying packs and tools. Potential projects include cutting tread and adding drainage features, rock gardens, and established berms. This project will provide a great opportunity for trail building education and experience. All trail building instruction and tools needed will be provided on site through Touch of Nature’s trail staff, making this an excellent project for first-time volunteers.

AHS acknowledges with gratitude that this project takes place on the traditional lands of the ?????? ???? ???? ??^??^(Osage), Očhéthi Šakówiŋ, O-ga-xpa Ma-zhoⁿ (O-ga-xpa), Myaamia, Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo), and Kaskaskia peoples past and present. We honor the land itself, the Indigenous communities who have stewarded this land for generations, and those who continue to steward these lands today. AHS invites all volunteers to join us in our commitment to support and amplify the work of Indigenous communities as they work to dismantle the systems of oppression that these communities continue to face today.

Accommodations: Volunteers will stay in rustic, dorm-style cabins with a communal bathroom and shower house. Volunteers will eat 3 meals a day in the nearby Freeburg Dining Hall. Volunteers will have access to wifi, laundry, fire pits, shelter houses, and hiking trails within a short walking distance from cabins. Volunteers need to bring their own linens (sheets/bedding or sleeping bags) and towels. Please contact volunteer@americanhiking.org for assistance with gear needs.

Trip Cost: $350 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/touch-of-nature-environmental-center-volunteer-vacations-2022/