Outdoor Leadership Training

Washington Trails Association’s Outdoor Leadership Training program gets school-age youth outside by empowering teachers and youth group facilitators with the skills and resources they need to lead safe and fun outdoor experiences.

WTA focuses recruitment, resources and outreach on communities that have historically faced barriers to outdoor exploration. The priority audience is organizations serving youth who attend schools where 40 percent or more of the students qualify for free or reduced price lunch and/or schools that have a student body with at least 40 percent students of color.

How It Works:

Attend an Outdoor Leadership Training Workshop or schedule a specialized Custom Workshop for your staff
Attend a Gear Library Orientation and create a myTurn account
Borrow gear
Apply for Funding Assistance for trip costs
Go on an outdoor trip with your group

Celebrating 10 Years

Celebrating 10 Years of Outdoor Leadership Training for the Next Generation

WTA is celebrating a major milestone in our Outdoor Leadership Training program. For a decade, we have been helping community leaders get outside with youth and families. By offering training, gear and resources, we have helped make more than 18,000 outdoor experiences possible. By Jessi Loerch and Rachel Wendling

10 Stories from 10 Years of Outdoor Leadership Training: How WTA Helps Community Leaders and Kids Get Outside

Over the last decade, WTA has met some incredible leaders through the Outdoor Leadership Training (OLT) program from a variety of programs, including educators, therapists, youth ministers, scouts, environmental justice workers and members of tribal and affinity groups. As a way to look back and celebrate the OLT program’s 10th anniversary, we wanted to revisit 10 stories from our partners.

WTA's Outdoor Leadership Training Helps Communities Spend Nights Under the Stars

For nearly a decade, WTA’s Outdoor Leadership Training program has been working to increase access to outdoor experiences by reducing barriers to support educators and group leaders with training and gear for camping and backpacking trips. We wanted to look back and see how those experiences have made an impact.