TRAIL MAINTENANCE AND CONSTRUCTION

Who can help?

Have you ever considered volunteering to work in the outdoors?

Each year a hundred or more volunteers work on constructing new hiking trails through Pioneer Forest or maintaining our existing trails. Constructing trails can be physically demanding but quite rewarding work.  Maintaining a trail involves restoring tread, clearing fallen debris, trimming low-hanging limbs and brush, and replacing missing or broken trail markers.

We have hosted college and university students, individual volunteers, as well as members of conservation and outdoor recreation groups from throughout the state. Some of these groups include Burroughs High School in St. Louis, the Sierra Club, Discovery Ministries in Emminence, and the Missouri Coalition for the Environment.

When?

Work weekends are scheduled each fall and winter when the weather is cooler and the bugs have begun to disappear. This is a great time to begin planning trips outdoors. We can offer your group on-site instruction, places for overnight camping, tools, and logistical support.

What Has Been Done?

Work on the Pioneer Forest trails system began in the 1970's when volunteers from the Sierra Club began construction of the first segment of the Ozark Trail. Thirteen miles of the Ozark Trail now carry hikers and backpackers through the Blair Creek valley. With that construction completed volunteers from the Sierra Club continued visiting Pioneer Forest each year to keep the trail open and well-marked. They also have completed a two-mile trail linking the Himont Trailhead with the Ozark Trail and are involved with constructing a new long-distance loop trail through the Brushy Creek valley. Their work on Pioneer Forest now spans nearly 30 years.

In recent years several trail construction projects have been undertaken to expand and improve the system of outdoor recreation opportunities on the forest. Projects currently underway include a nearly 15-mile-long loop trail through the Brushy Creek valley, a two-mile long walk from Devils' Well sinkhole near Akers Ferry to Cave Spring on the Current River, and design of a trailhead and backpacking route through Big Creek.

If you enjoy being outdoors and the satisfaction that this type of outdoor work provides, then come and visit Pioneer Forest for a weekend. If you are new to this type of activity then working with one of the groups regularly scheduling visits to the forest would provide the best experience. Most of these groups open their trips to visitors at any time. The Sierra Club already has the following weekends arranged for the fall: September 23-24, October 28-29, and November 18-19.

Sound interesting? For more information contact our office at 573.729.4641 or send us an e-mail expressing your interest.