Events

The NCTA Wisconsin Roving Trail Crew, “the WI Rovers,” is a group of volunteers from a variety of NCTA Chapters who build sections of the NCT, while simultaneously teaching others who want to learn the art and science of hiking trail and foot bridge construction. In 2025, the group will continue working on the new section of the NCT along the Foster Falls / Potato River corridor in the vicinity of Gurney, WI, which falls within the Heritage Chapter area. They have just over three miles of trail tread remaining before finishing the project.

This year, four of the workweeks will include young adult conservation corps crews. If you enjoy teaching or learning about hiking trail construction, this will be a great opportunity to integrate the next generation into work on the NCT.

If you’ve never been on one of the Rovers’ workweeks, it’s the NCTA’s flagship volunteer crew program, and has built most of the new NCT and trail structures in Wisconsin over the last couple of decades. Here is how it works:

The crew gathers on Monday afternoon around 2 p.m. (1400 hours) to set up camp and enjoy dinner together. Volunteers work on the project from Tuesday through Thursday afternoon; the workdays run from 7:45 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (0745-1600 hours). They break the camp on Friday morning and volunteers depart for home. All meals are provided at no charge and you’re welcome to camp with the crew, but it’s not mandatory. There are other camping options in the area, e.g. Copper Falls State Park.

Volunteers can join the crew for a day, a couple of days, the whole week, or the whole season. Overnight camp spots fill quickly, but there are ample opportunities to join the crew for the day. If interested, email Brad at rovers@northcountrytrail.org for more information or to sign up for a workweek. Contacting Brad prior to the workweek accomplishes two objectives:
1) He conducts a meal headcount to ensure enough food for the week
2) He provides camper information to the private landowner so he knows how many volunteers will be camping in the Quiet Pines area.

The location will be in the vicinity of Gurney, WI. Contact Brad rovers@northcountrytrail.org for directions to the camp or link-up point for each workday.