Build Community, Skills, and Love for the Trails
Your school, summer camp, youth group, or business can foster strong connections to the outdoors and each other with GMC’s Service Learning Program. Service Learning Projects are the perfect way to give back to the Long Trail.
You will work closely with GMC’s volunteer and education coordinator to identify a volunteer project that fits the needs of your group. The group will receive hands-on training in trail maintenance, safe tool operation, sustainable trail design, and environmental stewardship.
How Your Group Can Help
Many hands make light work on the Long Trail. The trail system is in constant need of regular maintenance, such as clearing waterbars, “brushing in” widened sections of the trail, or building or rebuilding puncheon (bog bridging) over wet and muddy sections of trail. You might work closely in conjunction with our professional crews, packing in lumber or other supplies to remote worksites. Your group’s contributions are valuable, and we aim to provide an environment for supportive learning and team building as well.
Contact Our Volunteer Coordinator
Service Learning Project Spotlight
Champlain Valley Union High School’s Year-End RISE Program conducted general maintenance on the LT from Appalachian Gap to Baby Stark Mountain in May 2025. Students had the opportunity to speak with GMC’s Volunteer and Education Coordinator about trail usage and ethics prior to heading out for five days of hiking on Vermont’s Long Trail and New Hampshire’s White Mountains. Then the students closed out the program with a day of trail work. After learning the safety protocols of tool use and work crew dynamics they set about brushing in “social trails” and clearing and improving water bars along a heavily used stretch.
“The many miles hiked in the days prior set the table for the work we completed and provided the opportunity for the students to contextualize, through hands-on tasks, the importance of giving back by paying forward.”
Group Hike Guidelines
Groups often pair a service learning excursion with hiking or backpacking on the Long Trail System. Groups often have an outsized impact on the land, simply due to their size. GMC asks groups to follow a few guidelines related to group size and camping to ensure you are minimizing your impact on the trails and land. Please get in touch with GMC for help planning a group outing, as some overnight sites are well-suited for larger groups and some sites do not have space for groups.
Start Planning Your Give Back to the Long Trail Trip
Ready to see if Service Learning Outings are a good fit for you? Email the Volunteer Coordinator today. Tell us a little bit about your group’s size, age range, purpose, and availability.
