BOZEMAN — The Gallatin Valley Land Trust kicked off its 8th annual Summer Trails Challenge over the weekend and is challenging the community to record 80,000 miles in the month of June.
While it's not only an opportunity for the community to get outside and enjoy the hundred-plus miles of trails that make up the Gallatin Valley, it’s also a way to give back and to ensure that the county's trail systems only continue to grow.
“We really believe that these are the essence of our community and they connect us to our schools, they connect us to our neighbors," GVLT executive director Chet Work expressed. "This is the threads that bind this community, and this is sort of a celebration of those and an embrace of trails.”
Local businesses pledged $80,000 this year for the annual Summer Trails Challenge, but the non-profit will only receive that amount with the community's help.
The Gallatin Valley Land Trust has challenged the community to log 80,000 miles over the next three weeks, meaning one mile logged is $1 received towards maintaining the county's trails.
“You can bike, you can hike, you can walk every mile collectively that our community travels over the course of the next three weeks, counts towards this $80,000 goal and every mile that you log means GVLT gets one more dollar for our trails work," Work reiterated.
The process to log your miles takes less than a minute.
All you must do is visit GVLT's websiteand fill out your name, email, and how many miles you completed.
"We know that the community is going to travel more than 80,000 miles this month," Work concluded. "Will they log their miles is a great question.”
The Summer Trails Challenge ends at the end of the month on Friday, June 30.
