Your gift to the campaign helps build trails and the next generation of outdoor leaders
The PNTA performs over 80% of our annual maintenance and construction on the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail with youth and young adults from trailside communities and schools near the trail system.
“I loved spending time in the Pasayten Wilderness and now I understand how trails work a lot better. My season working on a PNTA trail crew helped prepare me to explore a future career as a wildland firefighter.”
-Jacob, 2019 Pasayten Crew Member
Meet Our Crew Members
Learn About The Program
Meet Our Crew Members
Your gift helps provide youth with an outdoor service learning experience that has the power to change lives.
Performance Trail Crew Members spend the summer outdoors discovering our scenic public lands while working on the Pacific Northwest Trail.
Hear what some of our 2019 trail crew members are saying.
“My proudest accomplishment was clearing 150 trees from the Boundary Trail in a single hitch! The long hikes we made into the Pasayten Wilderness carrying heavy packs and working in hot weather, sometimes with no shade, were challenging and rewarding at the same time. The season gave me some technical knowledge, but it also taught me to be a more patient person.”
-Adonis, 2019 Eastern Pasayten Crew Member
“The most memorable part of my season was our trip to the Goat Lakes from Hart’s Pass. That ten day hitch working on the PCT/ PNT was my first backpacking trip ever!
Soon after I finished my season with the PNTA, I decided to join Washington Conservation Corps. Now I help them do restoration and conservation work on riparian habitat throughout Washington State.”
-Erica, 2019 Western Pasayten Crew Member
“Having crew leaders as mentors and not just bosses was a real blessing. I’m proud of the progress our crew was able to make together and I’m proud to have worked through to the end of every hitch and to the end of the season.”
-Jacob, 2019 Mt Baker Crew Member
Learn About The Program
Your gift helps maintain and enhance the PNT for all to enjoy.
It brings us closer to our goal of maintaining and enhancing 100% of the 1,200 mile trail system and it helps more youth and young adults learn trail stewardship skills and explore careers in natural resource management.
Performance Trail Crews
Our Performance Trail Crews are seasonal trail maintenance and construction teams that keep the 1,200 mile Pacific Northwest Trail open for everyone to enjoy.
Located high in the rugged mountain ranges of the Northwest, access to many trailheads along the PNT is limited most of the year. Our Performance Trail Crews help us make the most of the short season. Each summer, they travel to work wherever they are needed most, restoring the trail from nature’s toll and working to improve the trail system.
Quilcene Ranger Corps
The Pacific Northwest Trail Association partners the US Forest Service, Hood Canal Ranger District and the Back Country Horsemen of Washington in the administration and management of the Quilcene Ranger Corps. USFS representatives provide supplemental education to QRC students and help prepare them for a variety of careers in forestry, environmental stewardship, and related fields.
Throughout the course of the summer, QRC students are taught trail stewardship skills, in accordance with U.S. Forest Service Standards. Instruction is provided with a special emphasis on trail restoration and teamwork.
PNTA – Job Corps Crews
Job Corps helps young adults, ages 16 – 24, improve the quality of their lives through vocational and academic training. For 14 seasons, the PNTA has provided work opportunities that let students apply their skills in the construction of outdoor recreational infrastructure on our public lands.
PNTA – Job Corps Trail Crews construct bridges, puncheon walkways, trailhead kiosks, campground facilities, trails and other outdoor recreation infrastructure. Typically, each crew spends nine days camping out in the field before returning to the Curlew Job Corps Campus to resume their work-based learning.
Help us Grow our Youth Program
and Receive Great Gifts
You can make a difference in the future of the Pacific Northwest Trail and in all the lives it touches.
And for a limited time, you can dedicate a trail marker to someone special on our
Project Thunderbird registry and receive other special gifts.
Coffee Mug or Beanie
With your gift of $50 or more, you can choose between a limited edition, ceramic coffee mug or an embroidered beanie featuring the Thunderbird design. You’ll also receive a year’s membership to the PNTA as a token of our appreciation.
Thunderbird Registry
With your gift of $100 or more, you will receive a year’s membership to the PNTA, and we will install a real Thunderbird marker on the trail in your honor! You can also dedicate a trail marker to someone special in our Project Thunderbird Registry.
Thunderbird Hoodie
With your gift of $200 or more, you will receive a year’s membership to the PNTA and this snuggly hooded sweatshirt bearing the iconic Thunderbird service mark.
Hero Package
For your generous donation of $500 or more, will receive a year’s membership to the PNTA and all of the incentives from the previous giving levels combined.
“This is a critical time in the development of the PNT. Your donation goes a long way in helping PNTA make this great trail the best that it can be.”
-Mike Dawson PNTA staff 2001-04, PNNST Federal Advisory Council, PCTA Director of Trail Operations 2004-18
