There’s a new designation in town. In 2019, Round Hill was named an A.T. Community—and, this year, the town has been recognized as a Tree City USA.
 
The Arbor Day Foundation program recognizes communities committed to “greening up” their hometowns. Communities achieve Tree City USA status by meeting four core standards of sound urban forestry management: maintaining a tree board or department, having a community tree ordinance, spending at least $2 per capita on urban forestry and celebrating Arbor Day.

The A.T. in Virginia is often called a "green tunnel." Trees line the Trail, shelter hikers and host wildlife. We're used to seeing trees along trails and in parks. But trees are just as important in suburban and urban settings. More important, many would argue.
 
Trees are a great investment for a community like Round Hill. They clean our air and water, reduce storm runoff and improve property values. They offer cooling shade in summer and wind breaks in winter—helping to reduce energy consumption. Plus, their branches provide wildlife with food and shelter year round.

Round Hill celebrated its new Tree City U.S.A. designation at an Arbor Day celebration in April that brought another river birch to Niels Poulson Park. We're continuing our focus on trees by working to create a Round Hill Tree Map.

Residents can nominate "notable" trees in town. Notable can mean "native," "big"  or "unique." It can mean a "witness tree," a tree that's been around long enough to witness some town history. If you have a favorite tree, please let us know. 

We'll be celebrating Round Hill's Tree City USA status at the festival, including a Sunday tree planting demo by the VA Department of Forestry and a tree give-away.

Take a hike on the A.T. no matter where you are. Through June 30, 2021, you can unlock the A.T. on the Walk the Distance app when you donate $5 or more to the ATC! Your donation helps ATC on their mission to protect, manage and advocate for the Trail. 

Walk the Distance, available on iOS and Android devices, uses your daily steps tracked through your phone and converts them into northbound miles hiked on the Trail. Discover checkpoints along the virtual footpath that highlights trivia on iconic views, shelters, ATC projects and more. 

Visit appalachiantrail.org/walk-june to donate and start your virtual thru-hike today. ​

One hundred years ago, Benton MacKaye was a bit lost. He had lost his job and, more tragically, had just lost his wife to suicide. MacKaye turned to the Appalachian woods he loved for solace.

In an essay published in The Journal of the American Institute of Architects in 1921, Benton MacKaye gave voice to his vision of "An Appalachian Trail." He spoke of the "vast areas of secluded forests, pastoral lands, and water courses, which, with proper facilities and protection, could be made to serve as the breath of a real life for the toilers in the bee-hive cities along the Atlantic seaboard and elsewhere."

Along the spine of the Appalachian mountains, he believed, "There would be a chance to catch a breath, to study the dynamic forces of nature and the possibilities of shifting to them the burdens now carried on the backs of men." MacKaye envisioned "a walking trail" that would connect communities from New England to Georgia.

Though it wasn't completed until 1937, the Appalachian Trail was born in MacKaye's vision. Less than 16 years after his article was published, his "long trail over the full length of the Appalachian skyline" became a reality.

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Want to know more about the Trail's origin story?  Check out festival speaker Jeffrey H. Ryan's book, Blazing Ahead: Benton MacKaye, Myron Avery and the Rivalry that Built the Appalachian Trail. 

This time we mean it! Though we had to cancel dates in June and September of 2020, we are hopeful that we'll all get vaccinated by sometime this summer. So...we have set new dates for the 2021 Round Hill Appalachian Trail Festival, and we hope you can join us on September 11 and 12.

Once again, B Chord Brewing has generously offered to host the festival. And, once again, we're planning for trail talks, live music, kids' activities, a scavenger hunt, hikes, food trucks—and so much more. 

Please put us on your calendar (9/11-12), and watch this space for more details as we get things in place for a wonderful weekend celebrating the A.T. and all things nature!

One hike for each week of the year.

What could committing to that mean to you? Certainly, it would be good for your heart, your muscles and your bones. And then there's the adrenaline and endorphins hiking can stimulate that boost your mood and energy levels. And maybe it's something that can bond your family or cement a friendship.

Beyond the personal benefits, I'm betting that a commitment to hiking regularly will make everyone of us care more about the trails we explore and the nature we're inspired by. That's why I've signed up for the 52 Hike Challenge. I want to use it as reminder to get out on the trail every week.

Now, during this pandemic, hiking can be a wonderful antidote to all the anxiety in the air. And we're safer outdoors than in indoor spaces. Groups like the American Hiking Society have great advice for responsible hiking. So, take the challenge and get outdoors!

Learn more about the challenge—and sign up—at: https://www.52hikechallenge.com.

When will we get to hold the next festival?

We just can't know at this point, but June 2021 is looking less and less likely as COVID-19 vaccines slowly make their way to more people. Please know that we are 100% committed to hold the festival when it's safe.

In the meanwhile, stay safe! And get outdoors. And keep supporting the groups that support the A.T.

Pack it in. Pack it out.

If we want to continue to have beautiful trails like the A.T. to hike on, we need to take care of them. Leaving an energy bar wrapper behind is unsightly to be sure. But it can also be hazardous—and, because some litter isn't biodegradable, it can remain a hazard for decades to come.

A bottle or can can become a death trap for a lizard. Broken glass can cut the feet or end up in the stomach of an animal. Food scraps aren’t helping wildlife, either. Deer may love to graze on grain products, but they can form gummy masses and interfere with digestion. Not to mention that animals that become accustomed to free handouts can be unprepared to hunt for themselves when handouts aren't available.

Not trashing our trails is the first step toward protecting them. Take the next step by picking up litter you see on the trail. You can take the #LeaveNoTrash pledge October 26-November 1, 2020—and help spread the word. Here's what the Leave No Trace folks are asking us to do:

"Get outside, pick up some trash and post your efforts to social media, making sure to use the hashtag #LeaveNoTrash. Plus, take our pledge to participate and tell us how much trash you plan to pick up."

Sad to announce, but there won't be a Round Hill Appalachian Trail Festival in 2020. With the pandemic still raging, what's important is trying to keep people healthy—so, we won't be asking you to gather for a festival.

But let's look ahead to better times. We hope to bring you all the same festival fun in June 2021: live music, trail talks, hikes, games and all the rest.

We already have partner organizations on board, like the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, Center for Wilderness Safety, Friends of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia Department of Forestry, Round Hill Fire and Rescue, and more.

Keynote speaker Cindy Ross has just announced that she plans to join us. And we're ever grateful to sponsors like Meadows Farms, who have been quick to pledge their ongoing support. 

So, please stay safe....and mark your calendars for June 12, 2021.

Let me introduce myself...I'm Jody Brady, director of the Round Hill Appalachian Trail Festival. With the festival postponed, the A.T. closed and the coronavirus still raging, we're missing the Trail. We understand the need to keep our distance from both the Trail and each other. Still, that doesn't mean we can't be Trail advocates even now.

Living a half mile from the A.T. (as the crow flies), my husband and I know first-hand some of the challenges the Trail faces. I'm not talking about maintenance or over-crowding. I'm talking about invasive plants. Plants that don't belong in our local ecosystems and that can outcompete native species. Plants that don't feed our insects and wildlife. 

Here on a slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains, we work just about every day to dig out barberry, wineberry and multi-flora rose. We pull garlic mustard and Japanese stilt grass. We make room for the comeback of cutleaf toothwort and wild geraniums. We help support biodiversity.

A good number of the invasives we're pulling jumped ship from people's gardens. They're exotic plants bought at nurseries: ajuga and periwinkle, multi-flora rose and barberry. They don't support our pollinators or other wildlife. If, instead, we all ​plant species native to our ecosystems, we can still have beautiful gardens—and we'll have the added benefit of more "neighbors," like birds and butterflies.

Even if you don't live as close to the A.T. as we do, you can support our parks and wild spaces just by following two simple steps: Pull invasives, plant natives.

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Here are some of the plants you make room for when you remove invasives: