Buckeye Trail 50+5 Challenge
The 50+5 Challenge was created in celebration of the Ohio Legislature’s Year of the Trails and the 50th Anniversary of the National Trails System Act in 2018. In 2024, the 65th Anniversary of the Buckeye Trail and Buckeye Trail Association, we again invite Ohioans to challenge themselves to hike 50 miles on Ohio's 1,400+ mile BT and give back 5 volunteer hours to the trail we love. There's something poetic about the confluence of hiking and volunteering on the BT that goes all the way back to our creation in 1959.
50+5 Hiker-Volunteers that complete the challenge and register their volunteer hours will receive a congratulatory packet including a certificate of completion, a 50 mile hiking patch, and a Buckeye Trail Association 5 hour volunteer patch to commemorate their accomplishment.
Once you have finished 50 miles and 5 volunteer hours, please complete this form.
If you take any photographs during your 50 miles or 5 volunteer hours that you’d like to share with the Buckeye Trail community, you can send your files to ! Photo submissions should be at least 1,080 px wide regardless of layout (square, landscape, portrait) with at least a resolution of 72 ppi to a maximum of 200 ppi. Photos should be clear and not blurry or over- or underexposed.
Hike 50 Miles
Looking for some opportunities to log some miles on the Buckeye Trail? With over 1,400 miles of trail, dozens of organized hiking events, group day hikes and backpacking trips, or your solo BT hike, adventure is waiting all around the state! You could use the 50+5 Challenge to explore new places around Ohio on the BT and make all 50 miles unique. Or you can hike the same five miles ten times if you want. Hiking five miles out and five miles back counts as ten. You choose your adventure!
Join us at Events
Check out our events and group hikes on our events page coming up this year to help you complete your 50 miles.
Get Involved with Your Local Chapter
Our BTA Chapters organize and promote all types of hikes year round at our meetup sites. Visit meetup.com to view those activites. This is a great way to get more involved with BTA Chapters and log more miles on the trail.
Volunteer 5 Hours
Join Buckeye Trail Work Parties
Join any of the BTA’s Chapter Work Parties. This is a great way to meet other outdoor enthusiasts, learn about building and maintaining the trail we all love, and make new friends. The schedule for these events is on our work parties page. Come for a day, a weekend, or join us for the whole week if you want!
Work with a Buckeye Trail Adopter
Trail Adopters are volunteers who maintain one or more stretches of the Buckeye Trail. Contact to find out if there is an Adopter in your area who could use a hand with a project or some help maintaining their stretch of trail.
Organize Events and Public Outreach
The BTA hosts many events throughout the year and our volunteers man BTA information booths at festivals, county fairs, and other events around the state. These types of opportunities can be found on the Events page of the BTA’s website, and on your local Chapter’s Meetup.com page. Events need planning and organizing, which requires several volunteers before, during and after events. Chapters are often the ones organizing information booths around the state.
Volunteer for a BTA Chapter
The BTA has 10 Chapters around Ohio and they can use volunteer help all year round for their own volunteer and outreach events, as well as Chapter leadership. To find a Chapter local to you, check out our Chapters' web page for descriptions. Visit our Meetup.com page for the events that the Chapters have scheduled around the BT.
For general questions about volunteering, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator at
For all other questions, contact us at: