AZT VETS

09/16/2026

⛏️ OPERATION NORTH RIM RESILIENCE — A FEW SPOTS JUST OPENED UP 🪖

Next week, September 24–27, AZT VETS is heading to the Kaibab Plateau with Team Rubicon West Branch and The Outdoor Muster to kickoff our fall/winter trail maintenance season.

We had a strong crew coming together, but a few last-minute cancellations mean we unexpectedly have room to welcome a few more volunteers.

So—here’s the invitation.

For four days, we’ll camp together near the North Rim and put boots, tools, and hands on the Arizona National Scenic Trail near East Rim Viewpoint.

The North Kaibab Ranger District has identified sections of trail that need some serious attention. We’ll be reestablishing portions of the original trail corridor, improving drainage, maintaining tread, and helping prepare this incredible stretch of the for the seasons ahead.

No previous trail-work experience is required.

We’ll provide the tools, instruction, project leadership, meals, and crew. You bring your camping gear, a willingness to work, and a desire to serve alongside some good people.

And the timing couldn’t be better.

Saturday, September 26, is National Public Lands Day—a day built around the idea that these places belong to all of us, and caring for them is something we can do together.

For AZT VETS, that idea carries a little extra meaning. Continued service doesn’t always require a uniform. Sometimes it looks like dirt under your boots, a tool in your hands, and a crew beside you.

📍 Kaibab Plateau / North Rim
📅 September 24–27
🇺🇸 Veterans, service members, families & community volunteers welcome
🥾 No trail-work experience necessary
⏳ Registration closes soon

If you’ve been waiting for the right opportunity to join an AZT VETS mission, this might be it.

Come spend National Public Lands Day with us. 🤙🏼

Registration link in bio.

09/10/2026

It takes just a few clicks to vote for the AZT VETS during the Arizona Financial Credit Union 2026 Local Causes Grant campaign.

Use the link below to cast your vote TODAY!

https://my.reviewr.com/s2/pitch?subid=11467960

Pro tip: you can vote once per day....🤫

Your vote makes a difference. Go vote! 🥾🇺🇸




Arizona Trail Association

09/09/2026

Sometimes, finding your way forward starts with finding your way back. 🥾 ⛺ 🌵

For Derek, a U.S. Army Veteran, the outdoors had always been a source of connection and joy. Through AZT VETS, he began to rekindle that connection—and along the way, found something just as meaningful: friendship and community with other veterans. 🪖

His story is a powerful reminder of what’s possible when veterans can get outside, serve alongside one another, and build connections with people who understand their experiences.

This is why AZT VETS matters.

And your vote matters.

The Arizona Trail Association VETS Program is in the running for the Arizona Financial Credit Union 2026 Local Causes Grant. Winning this grant would help us create more opportunities for veterans like Derek to experience the —not only through trail stewardship, but through the connection, camaraderie, and that happen along the way.

🗳️ Vote for AZT VETS using the link below, and help us bring more veterans together on the Arizona Trail. 🇺🇸 ⛏️

https://my.reviewr.com/s2/pitch;jsessionid=F713AD4AE2159DAAFBA808CA1DF8A747.8a?subid=11467960&evtid=11410198

09/04/2026

For Barb, AZT VETS is more than maintaining trail. It’s community, camaraderie, purpose—and the chance to keep serving alongside others.

In her words, it’s the shared sense of purpose that keeps her coming back.

That’s what your vote can help us provide to more veterans across Arizona.

The Arizona Trail Association VETS Program is nominated for the Arizona Financial Credit Union 2026 Local Causes Grant. With your support, we can bring more veterans onto the Arizona Trail to care for our public lands, reconnect with a team, and find renewed purpose through service in the outdoors.

🗳️ Vote for AZT VETS using the link below—and please share this with someone who believes in the power of service, community, and public lands. 🇺🇸

https://bit.ly/4zXaWUb

09/04/2026

Service doesn’t end when the uniform comes off. Sometimes it just takes a different form.

For the veterans of AZT VETS, that can mean picking up a Pulaski, working alongside a new crew, and putting our experience and energy toward taking care of the Arizona Trail and the public lands it crosses.

Leave No Trace is an important part of that responsibility. It’s more than minimizing our individual impact—it’s a way of thinking about stewardship, leadership, and what we leave behind for the people who follow us.

Our VETS Program Director, Michael Chappell, recently joined Veterans for Public Lands and Leave No Trace to talk about how those principles intersect with veteran service and the work we do on the Arizona Trail.

We build. We protect. We leave it better than we found it.

And then we pass that responsibility on.

08/25/2026

Your vote can help us get more veterans outside. 🥾🌵🇺🇸

The Arizona Trail Association’s VETS Program has been nominated for the Arizona Financial Credit Union 2026 Local Causes grant, and winning could help us bring even more veterans onto the Arizona National Scenic Trail for trail maintenance, community, and outdoor “Mission Therapy.”

Please share to help our veterans, our public lands, and the power of getting outside. Vote here—https://my.reviewr.com/s2/pitch?subid=11467960&evtid=11410198

08/06/2026

Huge thanks to Rails to Trails Conservancy for featuring our program in their latest magazine issue!

Hot off the presses ~ the Green Issue of Rails to Trails Conservancy magazine, featuring a video on the AZT VETS!
https://www.railstotrails.org/magazine/green-issue-2026/

08/04/2026

F A L L // 2 0 2 6

There is something timeless about building a trail.

One rock at a time. One drainage at a time. One mile at a time.

For many veterans, it’s also how we rebuild ourselves.

This fall, the Arizona Trail Association’s VETS Program is launching SIX opportunities to serve on the Arizona National Scenic Trail. Some are front country volunteer weekends open to veterans of every experience level. Others are remote Fox Squad backcountry hitches where our veteran trail crews tackle some of Arizona’s most rugged and rewarding work.

But every event has the same mission:

To care for the public lands that continue caring for us.

These weekends aren’t just about moving rocks or cutting brush. They’re about shared hardship, laughter around campfires, learning new skills, finding purpose after military service, and discovering that healing often happens shoulder to shoulder with people who understand.

Whether you’ve never swung a Pulaski before or you’ve spent years on trail crews, there’s a place for you.

And if you know a veteran who has been searching for community, purpose, or simply a reason to get back outside, consider sharing this schedule with them.

The trail has a way of meeting people exactly where they are.

We’ll do the rest together.

🇺🇸🌲⛰️

Fall 2026 Schedule

⛏️ Sept. 24–27 — Operation North Rim Resilience (National Public Lands Day)

⛏️ Oct. 8–12 — Operation Reclaim the Line (Fox Squad)

⛏️ Oct. 23–27 — Operation Manning Camp Relief

⛏️ Nov. 11–15 — Operation Safe Passage (Veterans Day)

⛏️ Nov. 20–24 — Operation Sunnyside Portal (Fox Squad)

⛏️ Dec. 10–13 — Operation Cinnamon Sendoff

Veterans interested in joining us can reach out directly or visit aztrail.org/programs/vets for details.

07/21/2026

05/30/2026