By Julia Parmley
GW is known for its urban campus, but for those who yearn for the great outdoors, there’s a student organization that can help.
GW TRAiLS (Teaching, Recreation and Adventure, Incorporating Leadership and Service) has been organizing outdoor adventure programming for GW since 2002. While the organization is not the university’s first outdoor initiative--Project Exploration, a program for incoming freshmen, and C.O.R.E. (Campus Outdoor Recreation Enthusiasts) were created in the 1990s--TRAiLS is the first to offer activities to the entire GW community.
Its 16 guides and six-member leadership team offers at least one outing, event or trip weekly throughout the academic year. Activities include everything from weekend ski trips and indoor rock climbing to mountain hikes and white water rafting.
“TRAiLS is a way for students to easily get outdoors to the Shenandoah National Park, West Virginia and southern Maryland, places many don’t realize are so nearby,” says Assistant Program Coordinator Matt Sacco, a student in GW’s Graduate School of Education and Human Development. “Many students at GW have never gone camping or hiking, so we facilitate trips and make these outdoor activities possible.”
And if participation is any indication, GW students are enjoying the great outdoors—approximately 300 students participated in TRAiLS activities during the fall semester, and this semester the organization has already reached 200 with a few trips to go, including an Assateague Island beach camping trip April 24-25 and a May 1 tubing trip. GW TRAiLS has more than 1,000 subscribers to their weekly listserv, the TRAiLBlaze, and incorporates both GW faculty and staff involvement on many of its programs.
Mr. Sacco says some of the local trips, including a Roosevelt Island hike, were created because students asked for outdoor activities in their own neighborhood. “We are continually trying to improve programs and to increase student participation by asking students for their feedback,” he says.
One of the attractions of the TRAiLS trips is that everything is planned and often very affordable, says senior TRAiLS guide Lauren Bishop. “Guides drive vans, budget plan and do all the background work, so all students have to do is pay and show up,” she says .
Ms. Bishop, a GW senior, joined the organization as a freshman and became a guide at the end of the year. “I hadn’t found a place I fit at GW before I went to a GW TRAiLS meeting,” she says. “I found a ton of people who were like-minded and who liked to do things outside. I found a place I belonged.”
The guides undergo months of safety and wilderness training before leading TRAiLS trips. Ms. Bishop says the older guides train the younger ones, which keeps the organization “self-sufficient.” They also go on an annual retreat to prepare for the following year and participate in a training trip with a guide from the Shenandoah National Park to learn extra skills, including planning nutritious meals, orienteering and group scenarios.
“Student leaders have a lot of responsibility,” says Ms. Bishop. “You are leading people in the wilderness, and you sometimes have students’ lives in your hands. The dedication and passion guides have is incredible—it’s a real group of leaders.”
The TRAiLS guides teach the participants basic camping and hiking skills. The organization also practices Leave No Trace (LNT), which enables participants to experience the outdoors with minimal impact on the environment.
This year, Mr. Sacco says GW TRAiLS coordinated activities with other university organizations, including an archaeology dig with GW Classics and Archaeology Club, a clean up of Rock Creek Park with Green GW and GW Women’s Ultimate, and a camping trip for GW international students. GW TRAiLS also organizes an Outdoor Adventure Festival during GW’s Welcome Back Week to introduce the organization to incoming freshmen and gather programming ideas.
At the end of each year, the GW TRAiLS team invites all participants to a “Trail Mixer,” where they show pictures of the year’s trips and give out awards.
“Everything that we do with TRAiLS is something that you can’t do in a classroom,” Mr. Sacco says. “The opportunities that we have are hands-on, fun and exciting. In everything from trail cleanups to clothing drives and green projects, we make sure that our activities stick with our core goals of providing an outdoor experience that promotes leadership and service.”
“Outdoor education is a great bonding experience no matter who you are with,” says Ms. Bishop. “On my first trip, I hiked 40 miles and really got to know the other participants. GW TRAiLS has allowed me to share my passion with others. It’s without a doubt the most rewarding experience I’ve had at GW.”