How to get involved:
Information on volunteer opportunities is available at cumberlandtrail.org or by emailing CTCoffice2014@gmail.com.
A small team of volunteers just finished the physically demanding task of replacing a curving, wooden stairwell on a rocky cliff descending deep into the North Chickamauga Creek Gorge section of the Cumberland Trail.
It was a demanding and slightly dangerous job that required a specific set of skills and a lot of lumber.
There are some knuckle- busting, time-eating, power- tool chores to be done in maintaining a soon-to-be 300-mile trail from state border to state border.
But it's not all backbreaking labor, and officials tasked with plotting the future of Tennessee's only linear state park are looking for groups comprised of average Joes and Jills willing to complete even simple tasks such as picking up trash along the trail.
"Any skill set you bring to the table, we'll use, because we need it right now," Cumberland Trail State Scenic Trail assistant manager Jordan Sikkema said Thursday. "To keep it going forward, it's going to take a lot more volunteers to maintain this thing. It's 300 miles."
A small team of state park rangers can facilitate construction and management of the trail, but they are hard-pressed to keep every wind-blown branch from the trail's start near Kentucky to its terminus at Signal Mountain's Signal Point off the path and out of hikers' way.
That's why, as the trail progresses to within roughly five years of completion, Sikkema and park manager Bobby Fulcher are hunting for more people like those they honored Thursday.
Dozens of Cumberland Trail volunteers received honors at an awards night at Rock/Creek's North Shore location for their efforts over the past year to maintain more than 200 miles of already completed trail.
"They've made it an easy process and a fun thing to be a part of," said Rob Ellis, a past president of the North Chickamauga Creek Conservancy. "You really feel like you're part of something bigger and a collaborative experience."
The NCCC maintains an eight-mile stretch of the trail near Flippers Bend, and Ellis said helping out on the trail is "probably one of the most popular things we do." The group was honored for its efforts during Thursday's event.
"What we did as an organization, is we offered for all board members and volunteer members to go to the class to learn how to maintain the trail and what the specifications are we need to stick to," Ellis said.
The state park and Cumberland Trail Conference are looking for more volunteers with trail building and maintenance experience, but also those with skills in GIS data collection, archival and folklore work and native plant conservation.
Rock/Creek director of sales Chad Wykle said he has noticed a more united approach to tackling the remaining construction and growing maintenance needs of the trail over the past five to 10 years. From nonprofits to schools, the state and even companies, the trail's advocates are pulling in the same direction as the decades-long project continues to be pieced together, he said.
"The gaps in the trail have gotten much smaller over the past 15 years," Wykle said. "The hard part is that while there is a need to build new trail to fill in the remaining gaps, there are hundreds of miles of trails built right now that have to be maintained and taken care of.
"That will never change."
Contact staff writer David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.