Storms tore up two of America’s most iconic trails. Federal cuts have disrupted repairs

Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail that runs through three western states is already challenging. Now the grueling journey may become even tougher this year due to federal cuts.

Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail is a challenge, especially for adventurers making the entire run from Southern California to Canada, and Eric Kipperman’s job is to greet them at the start and lay bare the difficulties ahead. He has lately begun warning that the journey may be even tougher. Following cuts by the Trump administration, plans to clear downed trees and rebuild storm-battered stretches in 2025 have been scrapped. “This year, we’re going to have less trail work done on the trails, so just know that going into your hike, safety is the most important thing,” Kipperman told a group of backpackers from Europe and the United States at the trailhead near Campo, California, an hour’s drive east of San Diego. He cautioned there is “no trail” at all in parts of the 2,650-mile path through California, Oregon and Washington state. The cutbacks are not just on the West Coast. Ahead of the busy summer hiking season, funding freezes and mass layoffs also are disrupting repairs on the East Coast’s Appalachian Trail after nearly 500 miles were damaged by Hurricane Helene, underscoring how President Donald Trump’s dramatic downsizing of the US government is touching even the nation’s remote backcountry where vacationers, wanderers and escapists alike retreat to leave modern life behind. Wildfires and more intense storms due in part to climate change have been taking a toll on the legendary trails. The federal cuts threaten their very existence, according to the Pacific Crest Trail Association and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, which oversee their preservation in partnership with the government and receive millions in federal dollars.