AFNHA Hiking Challenge and Trail Talks
Appalachian Forest Hiking Challenge Trail Talks
Join AFNHA this summer for guided hikes, educational presentations, and complimentary ethically sourced lunches from A’la Board Plates and Platters!
All hikes are suitable for beginners and will be around one hour long. Accompanying presentations will discuss Leave No Trace practices, community trails, plants and animals, history and heritage, and more! Completion of five of these trails qualify hikers for an embroidered AFNHA Hiking Challenge patch.
Guided Hike Trails and Dates
May 24: EAST Trail | Meet at Davis & Elkins College Pavilion
June 21: Fox Trail | Meet at Scott Ford Road Dock
July 19: Rich Mountain Battlefield | Meet at Field of Fire
August 23: Glendale Park | Meet at Glendale Park Pavilion
September 20: Stuart Recreation Area River Loop Trail | Meet at Stuart Recreation Area Parking Area
October 18: TBD
AFNHA presents guided hikes via Storymaps to help you start your journey.
Future Plans
This hiking challenge will have more content added over time. Of note:
There are currently 5 guided hikes on Storymaps, which can be found here. More guided storymaps will be added.
The current way to collect your badge is by going the Darden Mill. In the future, we hope to have the badges avaliable for pickup in other locations and/or mail them directly to people who complete the challenge.
This map of trails in the AFNHA region is almost certainly missing some hikes. If you believe that we should include a hike that's not currently on the map, please let us know via this form!
We'd like a more user-friendly way to let users keep track of how many hikes they've done. One potential solution is having a membership form specifically for the hiking challenge; if this sounds like something you'd be interested in, please let us know!
Rules
- Go on any hike in the AFNHA region. A map of most of these hikes can be found here. To find hikes in your region, you can use the "search" feature in the upper-left corner of the map.
- Let us know about the hike! You can send us a picture of yourself on the hike and/or a brief message about your experience. Each submission will be manually verified by AFNHA. You can submit this here.
- After 5 verified hikes, collect your badge! The badges can be picked up at the Appalachian Forest Discovery Center (Darden Mill) in Elkins. Address: 101 Railroad Ave. Elkins, WV 26241
Feedback
We value your feedback on this hiking challenge! Please provide feedback via this Google Form or by emailing recreation@afnha.org.
