Mud? Ice? High water at stream crossings?
This is the place to let the trail community know what you encountered, where and when (be as precise as possible). Suggestion: Make the trail or park name your subject.
To report serious trail problems that need Trail Conference attention, including illegal trail use issues, visit our Contact Us page. Problems reported through our Contact Us page get to the maintainers fast and reliably. Problems reported on the forum below may help fellow trail users avoid problem areas until they get fixed, but not all maintainers read this regularly.
Bottle Cap Trail in Harriman
Rattlers in Harriman
Timber rattlesnakes on Diamond Mountain
Ive seen rattlers dozens of
Questions about Slide-Cornell-Wittenberg Loop
Camping on Slide-Cornell-Wittenberg Loop
Water on S-C-W loop
Water
Damaged bridge on HTS Trail
A report has been sent in to the TC.
Crowded Campgaw
Suffern-Bear Mountain Trail Markings
Trail Conference Volunteer Is Following Up
Agreed.
Sadly, i actually sent in a report of this exact problem to the TC about a year ago, but nothing seems to have been done. When i hiked the entire SBM a few months ago, i had to make the final descent in the dark, and the fact that i made it down without a problem i consider to be a combination of luck and the fact that i know this area of the trail well from having hiked it numerous times .
If need be, i will be taking a can of yellow spray paint with me the next time i hike this section of SBM...
".....Sadly, i actually sent
Thanks for assuming!
Fact #1:
When i sent my report in a year ago, i received a reply that stated "the trail maintainer for that section will be notified". If i understand english correctly, this would lead one to believe there already is a maintainer for that section of the trail.
Fact #2:
The TC lists trail maintainer openings right here on the website, and i check them on a regular basis, waiting for one to open up that i will be able to work on given that i have limited access to only a select number of trails.
Fact #3:
Part of my time spent on every hike is helping to keep the trails i am on maintained, whether it's clearing the trail, picking up other people's garbage they've left behind, or fixing cairns that have fallen apart, etc.
Fact # 4:
The TC has stated here on this forum that they do not encourage "phantom trail maintenance", so other than the simple activities listed above, i have refrained from adding/fixing blazes on trails. However, since not even one person from the TC has bothered to respond to this topic, i guarantee you that the next time i am on the SBM, i will have a can of yellow spray paint with me, and will be re-doing the faded blazes, so other hikers won't have the problems i've encountered.
I know all the work is done by volunteers, but i trust the TC to be on top of things, and if there is a trail maintainer opening, or problem keeping up with a trail section, they should be letting us know, not expecting us to figure it out for ourselves.
OK, sorry. I didn't mean to
No worries.
Our collective goal is hopefully to make hiking these trails an enjoyable experience for all those who use them, while also treating nature with respect. This requires us to all work together, but it's important to remember that there are a lot of people who are doing work on the trails without looking for recognition or wanting some sort of "official" position.
Major Welch Trail
West End of Major Welch Trail Closed
You're correct. Please see Trail News item about this here:
news/major-welch-trail-bear-mountain-closed
Thanks