National Trails Day has come and gone, and the annual celebration carried with it a new reality. Trail events to celebrate our open spaces across the nation were canceled due to the ongoing effects of the COVID-19. In these moments there is remorse, but the trails will still be there. If we are going to take care of our trails, we must first take care of ourselves.

So you may have missed a great day with friends doing a little maintenance on your local trail network, but it is important to remember that even as the “official” holiday has passed, the reality is that every day is National Trails Day.

There are opportunities every time you leave the house to make your trails that much better. Fixing a clogged drainage ditch, rebuilding a water bar, smoothing out braking bumps, or even just picking up trash improves the experience not just for you, but for your entire community.

As the old saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”

Happy belated #NationalTrailsDay