Project overview: Improve trails in the Tuolumne River watershed while providing young adults from the California Conservation Corps with hands-on experience, employment, and education. 

How your support helps: Yosemite’s 800-mile trail network offers endless opportunities for day hikers and backpackers to experience the wonders of the Sierra Nevada. Keeping these trails in good shape requires regular restoration work, and Yosemite has partnered with the California Conservation Corps (CCC) for more than four decades to uphold trail safety and visitor experiences. 

Together, we engage and employ young adults (ages 18–25) in much-needed trail projects — all while building teamwork and deep connections to nature. The CCC crew spends a five-month season working with and learning from world-class National Park Service crews to improve dozens of miles of hiking terrain. The team begins the season in developed frontcountry areas of the park — namely, Yosemite Valley — and finishes the season in the wilderness.  

CCC crews play a key role in ensuring Yosemite’s trails can provide safe, enjoyable hiking experiences. They clear brush and fallen logs; repair damage, such as rain-carved ruts and failing tread; and construct rock walls, steps, and drainage features. Their work prevents erosion, protects trailside vegetation, and encourages people to stay on designated routes. Along the way, CCC members hone restoration skills; learn about environmental science, geology, and park history; and gain valuable experience that can help them in future careers.  

Yosemite Conservancy donors first funded CCC crews in Yosemite 1995, and since then, many program alumni have gone on to work for the National Park Service, either on trail crews or in other divisions. 

This year: In 2025, a crew of 15+ young adults will complete important trail restoration and maintenance projects in Yosemite, including 35+ miles of frontcountry and Valley trails and 35+ miles between Tiltill Mountain and Tilden. In this season of trail work, the CCC crew will improve trails in and around Yosemite, while also developing a sense of connection to public lands and essential trail-building skills that will live on well after their season in the park. 

Project partners: Yosemite National Park and California Conservation Corps 

Dave Kari

Trails Supervisor, Yosemite National Park

Project Notes

"The time spent maintaining and building trails in the Yosemite backcountry fosters a sense of stewardship and provides knowledge and skills for these youth to succeed in the future."