This spring’s Preserve the Wonder hike challenge highlights the many wonders of the Gorge
What’s your favorite thing about the Columbia Gorge? Can you pick just one? This spring’s hike challenge celebrates the many qualities that make the Gorge such a place of wonder and awe.Friends of the Columbia Gorge’s sixth annual hike challenge takes you through the Gorge’s unforgettable landscapes with 22 challenges to complete between April 1 and June 30. These challenges are spread across seven categories ranging from jaw-dropping waterfalls to fascinating wildlife, inviting you to find wonders as small as wildflowers or as grand as the views from some of the most scenic spots in the Gorge. We also challenge you to find seven wonders all your own.
Get started by downloading the hike challenge trail log at: gorgefriends.org/hikechallenge and registering online to receive tips on how to successfully complete the challenge. Finishers this year will earn an exclusive 2017 hike challenge badge. Are you on Instagram? As you check off each challenge on the trail log, share your journey and your own personal wonders with #preservethewonder.
This year’s hike challenge complements Friends’ Preserve the Wonder land campaign to purchase and protect 420 acres across seven properties in the Columbia Gorge.
“The campaign Preserve the Wonder isn’t something we do for ourselves,” said the Friends of the Columbia Gorge Executive Director Kevin Gorman. “It’s something we do for future generations. This spring’s hike challenge invites you to discover what aspects of the Gorge inspire you with wonder and why it is worth preserving.”
Hike Challenge Trail Log (PDF)
Hike Challenge Webpage
About Friends of the Columbia Gorge
Friends of the Columbia Gorge works to ensure the beautiful and wild Columbia Gorge remains a place apart, an unspoiled treasure for coming generations. We’re the only conservation advocacy organization dedicated solely to protecting the Gorge. Secondly, we’re landowners. Our land trust owns over 1,000 acres, providing hiking and recreation opportunities, while managing our land for long-term protection. Thirdly, we’re educators. We lead more than 100 hikes a year, taking people to places they have never seen and learning things they never knew. Lastly, we’re connectors. We connect the landscapes to the communities of the Gorge through projects such as Gorge Towns to Trails.
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