New York - New Jersey Trail Conference

Created in 1920 as a federation of member clubs, the Trail Conference now represents 10,000 individual members and 100 organizational members in the metro NY-NJ region. Since opening the original section of the Appalachian Trail at Bear Mountain in 1923, our trail network has grown to over 1,600 miles of marked and maintained trails. Our mission is to provide the public with responsible access to intact natural areas. The Conference's three-pronged approach--protection, stewardship, and education--is achieved through a largely volunteer effort guided by a belief that the well-being of our region's people and ecosystems is dependent on our ability to experience the backcountry in an environmentally responsible way. Our work is supported through membership dues, publication sales, and private donations. In addition, hundreds of volunteers contribute approximately 40,000 hours of effort annually. The office is located in Mahwah, NJ, 26 miles northeast of Manhattan. For more information about the NY-NJ Trail Conference, see www.nynjtc.org