The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is recruiting for volunteers for the Adopt-a-Trail program.

A mandatory training program will be held on Saturday, July 31, on the North Carolina side of the Park for interested volunteers.

Volunteers are asked to hike their adopted trail section eight times between spring and fall and report major problems to park rangers. Minor issues would be handled by the volunteers, like removing small limbs from across the trail, clipping back encroaching branches, picking up trash and removing illegal fire rings found along trail.

The training will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 31, near the Oconaluftee Visitor Center at the park entrance on U.S. 441.

RSVP by July 26. 828.497.1949 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..