Trail Maintenance Classes

Trail Maintenance Skills Workshop

Join our workshop to help new and seasoned overseers learn or hone the skills needed to be effective trail maintainers. Trail safety, clipping, blazing, water bars, check dams, grade dips, tool use and maintenance, and more, will be covered. This is on the job training. We will walk a trail section with tools and practice the tasks necessary for routine trail maintenance.

Training and work trips are listed on the PATC meetup page.

More Info: Contact Robert Fina.

Traditional Tools Workshop
This hands-on workshop familiarizes trail maintainers and PATC volunteers with the safe use of crosscut saws, axes, and other edged trail tools. Classroom instruction followed by field exercises focus on hazard analysis and mitigation, bucking and limbing techniques, and knowing when to walk away from a complex situation. This weekend workshop is offered every spring. It is not a certification class and no sawyer cards will be issued.
More Info: Contact TBD

Rigging Workshop
This workshop teaches the fundamentals of safe rigging as they apply to trail work and is intended for trail maintainers and PATC volunteers. Classroom instruction on mechanical advantage, use of slings and shackles, Griphoist operation, and working load limits are followed by field exercises where students set up and apply proper rigging techniques to move boulders and other heavy heavy objects under instructor supervision. This workshop is offered every fall.
More Info: Contact TBD

Hiking + Backpacking Classes

Backpacking 101

An Introductory Course is for beginners & those who want to update rusty skills. It includes a weekend overnight backpacking trip. Instruction covers equipment selection and use, information and techniques to enhance safety and comfort, and Leave No Trace methods to protect our fragile backcountry environment.
More Info: Contact Backpacking Training.

Backpacking 202

This course is for Backpacking 101 graduates and others with comparable experience. This class provides the opportunity to take it to the next level by developing special skills needed to plan and lead group trips. Pre-trip planning sessions will cover equipment selection and use, route planning, food planning, improving safety and comfort, managing the unexpected, and Leave No Trace principles to protect our fragile backcountry environment. Includes a weekend overnight backpacking trip.
More Info: Contact Backpacking Training.

Lightweight Backpacking

Techniques for reducing pack weight without compromising safety, for both experienced and new backpackers. This one-day workshop is designed to acquaint backpackers with the importance of weight considerations when choosing and using equipment, and to instill a weight-conscience mind set when packing for an overnight trip. It is not intended to advocate an ultralight philosophy. Each student attending the class will be encouraged to bring a pack fully loaded, less food and water, with everything they would normally carry on a 3-day, 2-night trip. Pre-registration is required. Class is limited to 25 students.
More Info: Contact Backpacking Training.

Hike Leader Class

PATC offers a hike leader class for hikers who want to learn new skills as well as to become formal hike leaders for PATC. This course provides essential skills for leading a safe, environmentally responsible and enjoyable hike. It includes having two co-led hikes with an experienced PATC hike leader in order to receive your certificate. We cover how to handle basic first aid, leadership development, trip planning, standard procedures, emergency procedures, gear and clothing (ten essentials), basic map reading and navigation, and Leave No Trace ethics. The training includes lectures with hands on applications and trail-based scenarios. The course is open to PATC members only.
More Info: Visit our Hike Leader Training page.

Leave No Trace Trainer Course
These courses are designed to enhance your understanding of Leave No Trace practices and ethics and to increase your level of expertise and confidence in teaching Leave No Trace skills. Through focused activities, hands‑on field experience and both formal and informal discussions, you will be introduced to concepts and methods that will advance your knowledge of Leave No Trace issues, expand your repertoire of low‑impact skills and increase your effectiveness in teaching these important skills to others.
On completion of this course, participants will be registered as Leave No Trace Trainers with the national Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics and will receive a certificate of course completion as well as their Leave No Trace Trainer lapel pin.
More Info: Contact  Alec Barker.

Trail Patrol Classes

Trail Patrol Training
Want to be a part of the Trail Patrol? This course is required for all PATC members interested in joining the PATC Trail Patrol.

The course teaches the essential skills necessary to be a trail patrol member and to provide a reassuring presence on the trail while teaching safety and environmental responsibility. A Trail Patrol handbook is provided to all students. Please bring a pencil, your hiking daypack & lunch.
More Info: Contact TP Training.