Welcome to the PATC!

Benton MacKaye, whose mind and word gave birth to the trail, said that there would be no Appalachian Trail but for the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. PATC, a charter member of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, maintains 240 miles of the Appalachian Trail and approximately 1,000 miles of other hiking trails in the Mid-Atlantic region. Club members also construct and maintain trail shelters for hikers, monitor trail corridor lands, and are actively engaged in many conservation and recreation activities.

Trails and Shelters

PATC advocates for the hiking public and public hiking trails. Members work with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy to build a Trail to Every Classroom for students and teach Leave No Trace hiking and camping techniques. Most importantly, PATCers build and maintain trails and shelters.

Discover More

Traditions

PATC began establishing traditions in 1927, before there was an Appalachian Trail or Shenandoah National Park. PATCers helped organize other clubs and create the Appalachian Trail. They continued, despite a Great Depression and a World War, to provide that which we, in increasing numbers, enjoy today.

Learn more

Want To Help?

Are you in school? Retired? Raising a family? Single and care-free? If you fit any of these, PATC affords you the opportunity to help. Our activities and project are as diverse as our members. For many, you can help out even if you aren’t a Club member.

Trail management
Hut management
Cabin management
Tools management

Corridor management
TrailTalker
Chapter activities
Maps & Guides
Trail Patrol

Find Your Niche!

Storied Legacy

1930s PATC Gathering The Potomac Appalachian Trail Club has built and maintained public hiking trails in our region since 1927. Founded to continue the Appalachian Trail project and to promote Shenandoah National Park, our Club has actively supported hundreds of miles of side trails and provided early leadership toward the preservation of, for example, the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal.

Learn more

Help Center

Overseer Center

Contact Info

Potomac Appalachian Trail Club
Supervisor of Trails
118 Park Street SE
Vienna, Virginia 22180
703.242.0963

District Manager
Don White
Richmond, Virginia
804.795.2914