Trails tips and history revisited

The Society of Environmental Journalists used one new tipsheet and one revived old crime story to put trail safety, access and memory back in front of hikers this month. (sej.org) SEJ published “National Trails System — You Can Get There From Here” on April 15, 2026. The piece says the National Trails System spans about 91,000 miles and nearly 1,300 trails, and it urges reporters to use trailheads, shelters and volunteer workdays as places to find sources. (sej.org) The federal framework behind that advice dates to the National Trails System Act of 1968. The National Park Service says the law created four classes of trails and made the Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail the first two national scenic trails. (nps.gov) The Appalachian Trail remains the system’s best-known long route, and its managers now pair recreation with constant risk alerts. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy says it manages more than 2,190 miles of footpath and posts current warnings on fires, burn bans, bridge work and bear activity. (appalachiantrail.org) That safety conversation has older roots than a gear checklist. Outside revisited the September 13, 1990 killings of Geoff Hood and Molly LaRue at Pennsylvania’s Thelma Marks Shelter, a case the magazine said changed how many hikers and trail officials thought about violence in the backcountry. (outsideonline.com) Outside reported that the Appalachian Trail had already seen five deaths in four attacks before the 1990 case. It also said the trail draws millions of users each year, a scale that keeps rare crimes in public memory long after individual cases fade. (outsideonline.com) The trail’s culture has long mixed idealism with organization. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy says Benton MacKaye outlined the route in 1921, the Appalachian Trail Conference formed in 1925, and the full Maine-to-Georgia trail was connected by 1937. (appalachiantrail.org) Federal protection came later. The conservancy says President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the 1968 law that made the Appalachian Trail a national scenic trail, and 1976 amendments launched a major land-acquisition effort to build a protected corridor. (appalachiantrail.org) Today’s trail guidance is more procedural than romantic. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy tells hikers that backcountry conditions change constantly and asks visitors to report dangerous conditions and incidents, while the National Park Service says the broader trails system is meant to expand public access for people of different ages, skills and abilities. (appalachiantrail.org; nps.gov) Set side by side, the new tipsheet and the revived 1990 case describe the same American landscape in two registers: a public corridor built by law and volunteers, and a place where safety still depends on current information, local reporting and what hikers notice on the ground. (sej.org; appalachiantrail.org; outsideonline.com)