Volunteering with the Trailbuilders

During the Summer Months we work at upper elevations usually within the Crystal Lake Recreation Area, and during Winter Months we generally work at lower elevations such as along East Fork Trail, Heaton Flats, and Bear Creek Trail.

• MEETING LOCATION: San Gabriel Canyon Gateway Center, 1950 North San Gabriel Canyon Road (Hwy 39), Azusa, CA 91702. The beautiful new forest service facility is on the right as you round the bend to the right at the mouth of the canyon. It's about three miles north of the 210 Freeway (one mile north of Sierra Madre Avenue).Click HERE for a photograph of the Forest Service Gateway building to see what the meeting place looks like. Just drive up Highway 39 until you find Gateway -- there is a bronze statue of children playing on a tree out front.
• We car pool from the Gateway Center to the work site, leaving at 8:00 AM sharp. We usually return to the Gateway Center between 3:30 and 4:00.
• Bring your lunch and at least 2 quarts of water per person. We normally take a lunch break some time around noon.
• If you have work boots or hiking boots, you should wear those. The Trailbuilders will provide work gloves for your hands however if you already have work gloves that fit you, you should bring them.



• Bring a day pack to carry your water, lunch, and anything else you might want to bring with you. Typically volunteers carry a long-handled trail tool or cutters to trim brush, so if you want to carry tools and use tools during the day, a day pack to hold your things is needed.
• It would be a good idea to either wear a hat or use one of the helmets which the Trailbuilders will provide. During the Summer months, a hat or helmet helps to keep you from getting over-heated.
• Bring extra clothing as needed (temperatures in the mountains can fluctuate widely).
• All trail-working tools, materials, and equipment needed for the day's volunteer effort, as well as a safety meeting and tool-use instructions are provided before work begins.
• Rain and snow may cancel the trip, and the Trailbuilders maintain the right to cancel the day's volunteer effort for any reason. Please make sure you are on our mailing list to be kept informed about unexpected cancelations as well as to be informed of volunteer opportunities that are not normally scheduled.

Anyone who wants to become involved is welcome. A volunteer under the age of 18 years old must be accompanied by a responsible adult, outlined in this SGMTB MINOR POLICY (Word Document).

Safety First!

Every volunteer day begins with a safety meeting. The volunteers who have First Aid medical training and medical kits are pointed out to the group, and the people who have hand-held radios are pointed out.

The flora and fauna that volunteers may encounter and wish to avoid is also discussed at the morning's safety brief.

The Trailbuilders have radio contact with the U.S. Forest Service as well as law enforcement, fire fighting crews, and helicopter medical rescue.

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Baldy Volunteers

Trailbuilder Young Hahn leads a trail-working organization which performs trail maintenance within the Baldy area. See Baldy Volunteers web page to learn more about the trail working activities that Hahn's group coordinates.

The Mount Baldy volunteer group starts each volunteer day with a safety meeting just as the Trailbuilder's volunteer day does, complete with instructions for the safe use of the trail-working tools.

The Baldy group may schedule volunteer opportunities from time to time that are not on their normal schedule, so please contact Hahn to get on their mailing list, and to find out what days they work on trails in the Baldy area.

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Attention Girl and Boy Scouts and Scouters:

We have for years worked closely with many Boy Scout troops throughout Orange and Los Angeles Counties, Scout troops which have primarily been in need of service hours for advancement. We can accommodate individuals or groups of Scouts most any of the Saturdays in which work is scheduled. There are always plenty of experienced trailbuilders to assist and supervise, tools to use, and work to do.

The work is hard and dusty but it helps boys and their dads or moms to learn the rudiments of proper trailbuilding and maintenance. It gives them an appreciation for what it took to build that Sierras' trail they tread last summer. They learn how to use unusual tools, to build rock walls, steps and culverts, to pull out stumps, and to properly grade a trail to prevent eroson.

For more information on Girl Scout Gold Award projects and Boy Scout Eagle Projects that you might be interesting in doing with the assistance of the Trailbuilders, please check out the Eagle/Gold web page to get a look at projects we have assisted with, and potential projects that need to be done in the Angeles National Forest.

Non Discrimination Policy:

The San Gabrial Mountains Trailbuilders does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, gender, disability, familial status, sexual identity, or political affiliation.