Breaking Down Barriers to Getting Outside

The history and current reality of racism have created barriers for many people getting outside to enjoy the benefits of nature. WTA has been supporting the hiking community since our founding, but in the past decade we have been more intentionally focused on lowering barriers to access the outdoors and making our community more welcoming to all.

The history and current reality of racism have created barriers for many people getting outside to enjoy the benefits of nature. When you consider the uneven distribution of funding, information, green spaces and other resources, it is clear that many Washingtonians aren't able to benefit from or deepen connections to nature.

Trails for Everyone is building off of work WTA has been doing for years to make experiences on trail accessible and rewarding for everyone. We’ve been supporting the hiking community since our founding, but in the past decade we have been more intentionally focused on lowering barriers to accessing the outdoors and making our community more welcoming to all. We're doing that in a few ways.

Reducing Barriers to Getting Outside

We want to make it easy for hikers to find the information they need to get outside. We do that in a lot of ways — through our Hiking Guide and by sharing basic hiking skills in our Trail Smarts series, for instance. Our website is full of good information — and thanks to the support of our members, it has always been free.

We’re also doing hands-on work to help people gain new skills and get outside. One way is through our Outdoor Leadership Training program, which in the 10 years since it was founded, has trained more than 400 leaders. Those leaders have taken more than 19,000 people on outdoor excursions.

Creating Safe Spaces

WTA began offering shared-identity trail work parties more than 10 years ago to provide a safe space for volunteers from similar backgrounds and communities, including women and the LGBTQ+ community. This approach expands our volunteer base and helps more people gain skills in trail stewardship and access opportunities in the outdoor industry. Volunteers who have joined us on these trips have said that, while they had considered volunteering in the past, it was this community opportunity that encouraged them to finally sign up.

We've also built successful weeklong Latinx trail crew experiences in partnership with Latino Outdoors, in addition to work parties with other community-based organizations. And we created a New to Trail Work series to lower barriers for folks to try trail stewardship for the first time.

Our leaders are trained how to foster a welcoming environment, how to recognize bias and how to step in as needed to ensure everyone feels safe and supported while volunteering their time for trails.

We're also helping diverse individuals, including Black, Indigenous, and people of color, gain skills and experience while exploring career paths in the natural resources and outdoor recreation sectors.

building Partnerships — the Cornerstone of Trails for Everyone

None of the work we are doing to create trails for everyone is done alone. Partner organizations are key to making this vision a reality. We are constantly learning from one another and finding new ways to collaborate and grow. Together, we can all get more done.

Read about our work in action

WTA visits Washington, D.C., to ask for the funding trails and hikers need

Feb 20, 2024

WTA is advocating for Congress to pass the Transit to Trails Act, which would create a federal grant program to fund more public transportation to trailheads. More than 1,640 people have signed a WTA petition to express their support for this bill. Michael Decramer, WTA’s policy and planning manager, traveled to Washington, D.C., last week to deliver those petition signatures and to participate in the 27th annual Hike the Hill.

How an introductory backcountry work party helped one volunteer feel more comfortable backpacking

Feb 14, 2024

Jess Wolf had never been backpacking before signing up for a 3-day intro BCRT work party. Not only did she gain more trail work experience that weekend, but she left with the confidence to take on more backpacking trips afterward.

WTA welcomes 2024 Emerging Leaders in the outdoor industry

Jan 30, 2024

The fourth Emerging Leaders cohort is gearing up for 14 weeks of trail maintenance work and professional development, their schedules packed with on-the-ground field projects, meetings with local outdoor community members, professional workshops and more.

A WTA Work Party was a Life-Changing Trip for One Youth Volunteer

Dec 27, 2023

How one connection made on a youth volunteer vacation was life-changing for a young trail volunteer.

5 WTA Community Partners to Support this GivingTuesday

Nov 27, 2023

Washington Trails Association believes that trails are for everyone, forever. We seek to create a community of avid outdoor enthusiasts who love natural spaces. This year for Giving Tuesday, we are highlighting five community partners that are making waves, rewriting narratives in the outdoors and making sure everyone has access to connect with nature and experience joy in the outdoors. Please consider sharing your generosity with these community partner organizations.

Thank You, Community Leaders, for Getting Washington Outside!

Dec 21, 2023

2023 is the Outdoor Leadership Training program’s 10th Anniversary and it’s been a banner year! From all of us at WTA we want to say THANK YOU to the community of leaders from 68 organizations who have joined a workshop, planned, coordinated or led outdoor trips for their school or community this year.