About Us | Appalachian Mountain Club

Who We Are

The mission of the Appalachian Mountain Club is to foster the protection, enjoyment, and understanding of the outdoors

Since 1876 we’ve made it our mission to protect the mountains, forests, waters, and trails you love in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. We envision a world where our natural resources are healthy, loved, and always protected, and where the outdoors occupies a place of central importance in every person’s life. We encourage you to experience, learn more, and appreciate the outdoors knowing that your participation supports the conservation and stewardship of the natural world around you.

AMC is inspired by the untold diversity of our members and friends. We aim to be an inclusive, equitable, and kind community. At AMC we are united in our adventures by mutual trust, collective safety, respect for the natural world, and appreciation for our time together outdoors. We pledge that AMC will always provide a welcoming and respectful environment.

 

Our History

1882

Public Domain Acts

AMC lobbies the Massachusetts Legislature for the rights of municipalities to set aside lands for public use. One result is the Public Domain Acts of 1882, which grants towns and cities the right to set aside lands for preservation and conservation use.

1893

AMC’s Charter Enlarged

The Massachusetts Legislature enlarges AMC’s charter “to enable it to hold mountain and forest lands and historic sites, and so preserve the beauty and attractiveness of our mountains, and especially of their forests.”

1895

Snyder Brook Reservation

AMC makes its first conservation land purchase, by acquiring thirty-six acres along Snyder Brook in Randolph, New Hampshire, to protect a strip of old-growth forest from imminent logging operations. Snyder Brook Reservation, as it was called, was later donated to become part of the WMNF in 1937.

1911

Passage of Weeks Act

AMC's best-known conservation advocacy project culminates in the passage of the Weeks Act, allowing the use of federal funding to purchase forest land for conservation. It eventually leads to the creation of the White Mountain National Forest.

1930

Mount Washington Observatory

Joe Dodge, AMC Huts Manager, becomes the Weather Bureau’s official observer at Pinkham Notch, where weather data has been collected ever since. Two years later, Dodge helped found the Mount Washington Observatory.

1970

Campsite and Caretaker Program

A seasonal caretaker is placed at Liberty Springs Tentsite to manage use, giving birth to our Campsite and Caretaker program. Caretakers inform hikers on how to minimize their impact on campsites in the White Mountains.

1975

Injunction against I-93 Construction

AMC wins permanent injunction against I-93 construction north of Franconia Notch based on deficiencies in project’s Environmental Impact Statement.

1981

Cloud Catcher Research

AMC begins investigations into the acidity of cloud and rainwater on the upper slopes of the White Mountains at sites on Mount Lafayette and Mount Washington. Our “cloud catchers” continue to collect samples near AMC Lakes of the Clouds Hut.

1995

Air Quality Monitoring Station

An air quality monitoring station is set up at AMC’s Camp Dodge trails volunteer center in Pinkham Notch, New Hampshire, which still runs today in cooperation with the NH Department of Environmental Science.

2004

Highlands Conservation Act

The Highlands Conservation Act is signed, based on advocacy by AMC and other members of the Highlands Coalition.

2009

New England National Scenic Trail

The New England National Scenic Trail (NET) is federally designated. AMC and the Connecticut Forest & Park Association enter a formal partnership with the National Park Service to be the NET’s principal trail stewards.

AMC Membership

AMC members are people like you. We explore everywhere from our local parks to remote spots across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. We are friends, parents, kids, gear heads, minimalists, thrill-seekers, volunteers, and nature lovers. The outdoors is for everyone to enjoy—and your contribution will help build and maintain trails, protect public lands, and support outdoor conservation. 

Learn More

AMC 150

Inseparable from the success of the AMC mission is a set of core values forged in the exhilaration of our club’s earliest pursuits and nurtured carefully ever since. At AMC, we respect nature and people as parts of one whole and appreciate the intrinsic worth of the outdoors in all its forms. Leading by the example of rigorous preparedness we embrace lifelong engagement with the world around us.

We live these values, pursue this vision, and work tirelessly at this mission not out of faith or hope in some day’s change but out of pride in achievement that only the country’s longest-serving conservation and recreation organization can muster.

The aim of the AMC 150 plan is to further these goals by focusing on three strategic themes:

Active Conservation

Through conservation research, science-based advocacy, trail stewardship, citizen engagement, and strong coalitions, AMC stands as a leader in combating climate change and protecting our region’s ecosystems and the recreational experiences they provide.

Outdoor Journey

A world-class learning and leadership curriculum in concert with outdoor programs, experiences, and purposeful volunteerism, engages our community for lifelong fun and preparedness in the outdoors, with pathways to leadership opportunities. Inherent in the outdoor journey are the tools to help make AMC more accessible, inclusive, and welcoming.

Recreational Network

With support from AMC’s trusted community of members, supporters, and volunteers we provide a world class recreational network of professionally maintained trails and best in class outdoor program centers, lodges, cabins, camps, and campsites. From backcountry campsites to front country lodges, to high mountain huts, AMC will work to embrace sustainability and become a net zero organization by 2050. A backbone in our efforts to scale and make the outdoors more accessible and inclusive will be the engagement of AMC’s 16,000 dedicated volunteers.

Leadership

Our leadership team is comprised of a passionate group of people who share the vision and values of the outdoor community. 

Learn More

Careers

We are a community built on mutual trust, integrity, and dignity for all. Together we can make a difference.

Learn More

AMC is inspired by the untold diversity of our members and friends.   

We aim to be an inclusive, equitable, and kind community. At AMC we are united in our adventures by mutual trust, collective safety, respect for the natural world, and appreciation for our time together outdoors. We pledge that AMC will always provide a welcoming and respectful environment. 

Our Annual Reports

The Appalachian Mountain Club is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Donations and member dues to AMC are tax-deductible. We are committed to fiscal transparency.

Corporate Supporters

Join our community of corporations who help make a meaningful impact by supporting the conservation and stewardship of the natural world around you.  

Learn More

Support AMC

Whether you choose to make a one-time gift, become a monthly sustainer, or pick an initiative that resonates with you, your tax-deductible gift will further the protection, enjoyment, and understanding of the outdoors.

Learn More