Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy (SAHC) will host its Fifth annual Winter Hiking Challenge in the first two months of 2025, which aims to inspire people to experience outdoor recreation during the winter months.

“When we begin to feel temperatures drop, finding the motivation to get outside for recreation often becomes more challenging – that is definitely the case in my own personal experience,” says Justin Tucker, SAHC’s outreach program manager. “However, several studies have shown that time outdoors even in the cold actually results in many mental and physical benefits. We at SAHC recognize that outdoor recreation in the region looks and feels a lot different right now, but for many of us, playing outside is part of the fabric of who we are and why we call this part of the country home. We hope SAHC’s Winter Hiking Challenge will reinvigorate folks to reconnect with natural spaces in a meaningful way and help heal from the trauma they’ve recently faced. As our communities continue to bounce back, I hope folks will experience all the benefits that nature provides. Although this is a personal challenge, this is still something we can do as a community. So, grab your family and friends, and go explore together!”

The 2025 SAHC Winter Hiking Challenge sets a goal of 60 miles in 60 days, to be completed in your own time and at your own speed. Those can be miles you’ve walked, rolled (as in a wheelchair or something similar), run or hiked – in your neighborhood, around the block, on an accessible paved track, up a rugged mountain trail, or through the forest. Whatever works for your comfort and skill level, with the goal of reaching 60 miles within the 60-day challenge time period, January 1st to March 1st, 2025. Registration is open now and ends on February 25th. After registering, participants can log their miles, and those who complete the 60-mile goal will receive a commemorative SAHC patch following the end of the challenge. Registration is $25 per person, and the registration fee directly supports conservation work in the Southern Appalachians.

“Throughout the months of January and February, challenge participants can expect to receive motivational and informative emails to help inch closer to reaching their goals,” adds Tucker. “These will include personal stories from SAHC staff and partners, tips for cold-weather hiking, and maybe even a recommendation or two of some lesser-known trails to discover. Due to ongoing recovery efforts in our area, we encourage folks to check public land status before you embark on a trail and use recreation areas that have safely reopened to the public.”

SAHC is grateful to the law firm of Roberts & Stevens, P.A. for sponsoring the 2025 SAHC Winter Hiking Challenge.

“We are delighted to sponsor the SAHC Winter Hiking Challenge for a third time,” says Ann-Patton Hornthal, Roberts & Stevens, P.A. “Sponsoring the challenge is a way for us to give back to the community and help raise awareness of outdoor recreation activities that promote health and well-being. We know that conservation, healthy communities and outdoor recreation go hand-in-hand, and helping SAHC continue to preserve open space, farmland, and animal habitat is important to our overall quality of life in the mountains of NC and TN.”

Please note, the SAHC Winter Hiking Challenge signup fee is a fundraiser to help support conservation efforts; you DO NOT have to pay to hike public trails. More information and registration link at Appalachian.org/winterchallenge.