The Society would like to give a Big Shout Out and Thank You to the 6 or 7 folks that showed up this morning and helped us clean up the Garden of the Gods Recreation Area of the Shawnee National Forest. The team picked up approximately 200 pounds of trash from the Observation Trail; the area below the bluffs and observation trail and around the parking lots.

Those that showed up included Trail Society Board members Bill Gilmour, Chris Drone and Marcus Owens; other Society members to included Michelle Bloom.

It is also noted that another Society Board member Shawn Gossman along with Michelle Cochran and one other person represented the Friends of the Shawnee National Forest also assisted in this cleanup effort.

Interested in becoming a volunteer? The River to River Trail Society and The Friends of the Shawnee can use your help. If interested in helping in the future, please visit our websites for more details at http://www.rivertorivertrail.net/ and shawneefriends.org.

Hi all, we hope everyone has had a safe and enjoyable summer considering everything going on. We in the Trail Society have completed planning and published our fall hiking schedule which will start on October 1, 2022. In an effort to give back to the forest, the Trail Society is planning our 3rd annual trash blast work day at Garden of the Gods on National Public Lands Day. National Public Lands Day is held annually on the on the fourth Saturday in September and is the largest single-day volunteer event for public lands. Join us at Garden of the Gods main parking lot at on Saturday September 24, 2022 at 9:30 AM to celebrate National Public Lands Day by helping to clean up the trash in area before the fall tourist season.

Depending on the number of volunteers that register, we plan on having several groups picking up in various areas. These would include below the observation trail, another group picking up along the observation trail and around the parking lots and a third group picking up at the backpackers parking lot and on the Indian Point Trail. If you are planning on volunteering please plan on bring your own gloves, water, trash pickup tools and snacks needed for the event. This trash blast will involve bushwhacking around the base of the observation area and in the woods below parking the parking lots.

It is requested that volunteers call or email Bill Gilmour (270-331-1553 or william.gilmour@frontier.com) to register your participation. Please leave a message if I don’t answer. Please note that appropriate COVID-19 protocols will be practicied at the meeting points.

Lets make this as successful as last years event as shown in the pages photo.