Soak up the Sun and Support Your Local Parks

As someone who just made it through their first winter in Reno, I am more than thrilled that spring is now upon us! And now, I am ready to get outside, soak up the sun, and explore all that Northern Nevada has to offer. But how do you do that as a new resident? To find all the good trails or to motivate myself to get out there? To meet other people who want to get outside and explore the trails too?

*Enter the Truckee Meadows Trails Challenge* !

If you follow us on social media, or are familiar with the Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation, I am sure you have seen the ads or promotions for the Trails Challenge. Which means right about now you're thinking "I've seen it all". But let's dig into what being a part of the Trails Challenge really means!

The Truckee Meadows Trails Challenge is a goal-oriented program exploring trails throughout the Truckee Meadows. Once registered, your challenge lasts for one year. After you’ve registered, you set a hiking goal for yourself. Your goal can be for however many miles you want to accomplish within one year of signing up! Sounds easy enough right? Well it is!

After you have set your goal, it’s time to get outside and hit the trails! Following your registration you will receive not only a Trails Log, but also a Truckee Meadows Trail Guide to help you choose which trails you wish to explore. If you need more trail information, we also have a large Parks Directory with basic trail information, history, and pictures on our website available for public use.

As you get out and explore your local trails, record your hikes into your Trails Log. No matter where you are or who you hike with, all those miles count towards your end of year goal!

And my favorite part of all, you can meet other community members who love hiking too! Once a month the Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation will host a guided hike at a different trail each month. At these hikes, individuals who have registered for the Trails Challenge come together to log miles, explore a new trail, and get to learn something new as they are led by a guide from the Parks Foundation. On these hikes we explore biodiversity, history, and associated themes of the trail. After what feels like the longest winter ever, this is a great way to get back into your community.

Once the year has come to an end and you have logged all those beautiful trails, return your Trail Log by email or in person and receive cool prizes! And fun prizes are nothing compared to the ultimate prize of accomplishing YOUR goal!

The Truckee Meadows Trails Challenge is a great opportunity to explore new trails, enjoy what is sure to be a beautiful spring and summer, meet other cool hiking community members, AND support the Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation. We are always looking for new community members to join us on these challenges, and registration is open now! Next month we will be holding our guided hike at Lower Thomas Creek Trail, so register today and we will see you there!

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About the Author:

Erin graduated from Western Washington University with a BA in Communications in 2020. She is excited to work with the Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation as the Communications Coordinator, because it allows her to combine her love of the outdoors and volunteering as an active member in her community. Outside of work Erin loves hiking, swimming, rock climbing, and drinking lots of coffee.