OFFICIAL SITE OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY

National Trails Day – First Saturday in June

The first Saturday in June is a day to get out on a trail for National Trails Day, an initiative of the American Hiking Society that has been going strong for over thirty years.  National Trails Day is a day to enjoy, advocate for, and give back to the trails that connect us to nature,  to each other, and to the places where we live, work, play, and go to school.  Events have included hikes or bike and horseback rides, dedications of new trails, and volunteer cleanup or maintenance projects. Find a National Trails Day event near you here: https://americanhiking.org/national-trails-day/find-an-event/.

For 2024, NJDEP also has a great list of events here: https://www.nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/nationaltrailsday/

With events scheduled throughout the state each year, National Trails Day brings New Jerseyans together for a variety of trail-related activities, including family-friendly activities, challenge hikes, ribbon cuttings, and maintenance projects. For 2024, some of those events included:

• • celebrating the grand re-opening of Rancocas State Park following months of trail-work completed by the Southern Region trail stewards and their volunteer teams,
  • enjoying a day at the shore with Island Beach State Park’s Nature Center Beautification and Trail Maintenance,
  • honoring our veterans with a Purple Heart Trail Walk hosted by the Jackson Pathfinders,
  • exploring the meadows, woodlands, and pollinator garden at Tall Pines with the Friends of Tall Pines State Preserve,
  • go on a group hike with the Paulinskill Valley Trail Committee in Blairstown,
  • experiencing the magic of Randolph’s Fairy Trail ribbon cutting,
  • joining an equestrian overnight camping trip (bring your own horse!) with the Historic Lusscroft Farm in Wantage

…and many more!

Are you planning a National Trails Day event that you would like to share?  Register your event at https://americanhiking.org/national-trails-day/host-information/ and download their promotional toolkit to help get the word out!

Looking to create your own adventure for National Trails Day (or any day)?  Check out our Statewide Trails in New Jersey dataset to find a trail near you!

NJDEP was named a National Trails Day Champion by American Hiking Society for three years in a row! NJDEP was also the only State agency individually recognized as a National Trails Day Champion in the 2019 report, which stated that “American Hiking recognizes the commitment of all the organizations involved in building National Trails Day into an outstanding day of fun and service. Each year, we honor a few organizations and brands that go above and beyond in planning and promoting events. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection helped coordinated nearly 50 events throughout New Jersey to celebrate NTD. Events ranged from trail maintenance projects, to guide hikes, and community festivals.”