WTA Launches 'Trails Rebooted' to Upgrade Our Trail System

WTA is excited to announce Trails Rebooted, a campaign focused on improving iconic hiking experiences, championing the construction of new trails and helping hikers see the role they play in the future of recreation. 

• Trails Rebooted
• - Learn more about this campaign
• - Read all about it
• - Help us upgrade the trail system

Trails Rebooted is WTA's multi-faceted approach to the trail system of tomorrow:

• We're redoubling our efforts to maintain popular and iconic trails to ensure they can be enjoyed by the next generation.
• We're testing innovative solutions in four different landscapes around the state with the goal of finding new partnerships and opportunities to create more trails and increase connections between existing trails for added adventures.
• We're expanding our hiker education work to empower our community to be the best stewards they can be —  leaving trails better than they found them and speaking up in support of funding and innovative investment in our public lands.

Increasing demand and chronic underinvestment have put our current trails under incredible pressure. This has created a serious trail maintenance backlog, led to overcrowded parking lots and left agencies underfunded and unable to keep up with demand.

WTA has a long history of stepping in to fill unmet needs of hikers and trails. Our original newsletter Signpost started mobilizing hikers to get involved in forest policy in the '60s. Our volunteer trail maintenance program began in the mid-90s to help address the declining budgets for our land management agencies. Now we are ready to explore innovative approaches to upgrading our trail system. Trails Rebooted brings the proven success of our programs to help shape the future of trails.   

We are excited to share our new campaign with hikers. Together we can to address the issues facing trails and create a sustainable trail system that offers hikers a variety of quality hiking experiences — from backcountry exploration to everyday adventures.

I am excited about Trails Rebooted because it is about reimagining what is possible, and what is needed to have trails for everyone, forever. Trails forever won’t happen if we just focus on individual popular trails, we need to look at the whole trail system and landscape. Through Trails Rebooted, we will not only create more hiking opportunities in Washington, but also inspire hikers to be champions of our public lands. — Jill Simmons, executive director