A group of Hamilton College (Clinton, N.Y) students are making the trip from Central New York to the Soddy Daisy, Tenn., area to work on Cumberland Trails maintenance and restoration during part of their spring break, March 17-23.
The Cumberland Trail, a Tennessee State Scenic Hiking Trail, became Tennessee’s 53rd state park in 1998. The Justin P. Wilson Cumberland Trail State Park contains a core corridor of 300-plus miles of trail beginning in the Cumberland Gap National Park (KY.) and stretching south to Chickamauga Chattanooga National Military Park and Prentice Cooper Wildlife Management Area just outside Chattanooga.
This trip is part of Hamilton’s 20th annual Alternative Spring Break (ASB), an annual volunteer venture which this year consists of more than 100 students going on 10 different service trips to non-profit organizations. In addition to the Cumberland Trails volunteers, nine other groups will travel south for week-long construction projects, direct service work with children, environmental service or work in an urban soup kitchen.