Appalachian Trail Maintenance
Founded in 1970, the Outdoor Club at Virginia Tech is a self propelled wildland activities organization which seeks to foster a holistic understanding of our environment through meaningful contact with the surrounding land. The club plays a unique dual role, both recreationist and conservationist. Deemed a class A member of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, the club is responsible for maintaining approximately 30 miles of the Appalachian Trail which is divided into two sections - Pine Swamp Branch Shelter to U.S. 460 at the New River (gpx) and VA 611 to I-77 (gpx) *see map below*. The club is neighbored by the Piedmont Appalachian Trail Hikers and the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club.
Trail maintenance and construction includes a wide variety of activities. Some of the club's everyday activities consist of: cutting out blowdown with chainsaws and crosscut saws, painting white and blue blazes, maintaining treadway, maintaining open areas, and picking up trash. Some of the club's more specialized activities consist of: the construction and maintenance of moldering privies, shelters, and trail signs as well as installing water bars, check damns, and rock steps. Everyday activities are usually carried out on day trips throughout the semester, whereas, the more specialized activities are reserved for a two-day weekend trip, once a semester.
Trail work is fun, hard work and something that anyone can learn and do. Don't be intimidated! Furthermore, club members interested in taking their trail skills to a higher level have access (free of charge) to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy's Spring training workshops offered in chainsaws, crosscut saws, wilderness first aid and CPR, and Leave No Trace.
Maps & Mapping
Below is a web map using the OpenLayers Javascript API. You can toggle the basemap
that is displayed with the layer switcher on the upper right of the map. The sections
of the Appalachian Trail that OCVT maintains are KML overlays (purple lines). One of the
basemap layers is data from the open source mapping project, OpenStreetMap (OSM).
The CycleMap rendering of OSM shows hiking and biking trails as well as shelter locations
on the AT. If you gather GPS data while you are on the trails and would like to contribute
to OSM, check out the OSM website. If you'd like some help, feel free to contact Spencer Riddile
(
)
See the Map, Guides & Data section of the Resources page for some sources of data.
**Click on a feature for information about the trail segment.**
