Hey Everybody.

So, I'm just sitting here pondering the nature of outdoor clubs and their life cycles. The one I'm involved in is in a time of flux. There was a great period of exploration and discovery, then of trail building. Now we're entering maintenance mode. Which isn't very sexy. I've seen a lot of clubs in this situation start to slide. The maintenance doesn't get done and the trails get run down.

Looking for a bit of inspiration around what the purpose of a mature outdoor club is. Feedback from other clubs as to what they've done to keep a mature club from slipping into decline. Maybe finding new purposes for the membership to rally around.

So: what is the purpose of an outdoor club? If you were coming up with a mission statement for a club that already has a developed system of trails, what would it be? Advocacy? Social? Environmental?

Feel free to spitball ideas below.

Thanks.

I was a member of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club in the 80s. They were then (and probably still are) a model of good management with a clear purpose. https://www.patc.net/

The Appalachian Trail (AT) is incredibly well maintained with thousands of volunteers operating through a dozen or so regional clubs. I was shocked by the quality of trails in the west when I moved out. I've adapted and continue to enjoy our trail resources despite their rough shape. The challenges are different in the west of course. I've never hiked the PCT or other long distance trails in the west. Perhaps they're similar to the AT.