This is the classic, comprehensive manual on how to build a footpath to withstand the beating of 8 million boots a year (some hitting the ground 5 million times), to rest lightly on the land, to preserve the natural resources around it, and to allow a true backcountry experience-all at the same time. It is addressed to those who work on the Appalachian Trail-4,500 volunteers putting in a total of more than 185,000 hours a year-but is used by veteran and novice trail-builders around the world because of the success of the Appalachian Trail system. Illustrated with more than 50 photographs and 100 explanatory drawings, this manual includes design and construction specifications and lists of tools and U.S. suppliers.

Used by both the U.S. Forest and Park Services, this manual explains how to plan, build, design, and maintain trails.

God only knows what possessed Bill Bryson, a reluctant adventurer if ever there was one, to undertake a gruelling hike along the world's longest continuous footpath—The Appalachian Trail. The 2,000-plus-mile trail winds through 14 states, stretching along the east coast of the United States, from Georgia to Maine. It snakes through some of the wildest and most spectacular landscapes in North America, as well as through some of its most poverty-stricken and primitive backwoods areas. With his offbeat sensibility, his eye for the absurd, and his laugh-out-loud sense of humour, Bryson recounts his confrontations with nature at its most uncompromising over his five-month journey. An instant classic, riotously funny, A Walk in the Woods will add a whole new audience to the legions of Bill Bryson fans.

From the leading conservation organization--the trail building and maintenance bible, now updated and expanded to meet new techniques and new realities of the 21st century. New chapters on arid lands restoration and involving conservation volunteers. The latest in effective management of work crews of all ages.