When you step onto a trail, you know the feeling: the reassuring crunch of leaves underfoot, the breath of crisp air that clears your mind, a new path winding into possibility. These aren’t just miles of dirt and stone—they’re miles of tradition, connection, discovery, and peace. For nearly a century, PATC has built and cared for these trails stretching from Pennsylvania to Central Virginia so that people and families have the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors. 

But trails don’t keep themselves. Every footfall depends on invisible work: volunteers clearing weeds and brush, repairing erosion, and building steps that keep open a vast network of highly trafficked trails throughout the Mid-Atlantic. 

  “Each time we go out for crew work on the trail, we choose to be with each other to do things that benefit so many. It is hard work, yet so rewarding.”   

—Dan and Ellen Feer, Cadillac Crew, recent PATC Honorary Life Member Award Winners 

That is the current that runs through every volunteer story: people finding joy, pride, and belonging through physically demanding, hands-on care for the trail. They dig, haul, sweat, and problem-solve — and they do it for beauty, accessibility to nature, and to give back for the future hikers they’ll never meet. That transformation is only possible thanks to donors like you.