The Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail have a 3X donation match through the end of today.
In 2024, we’ve helped provide over $693,000 in support to improve the Mount Vernon Trail. New frostproof water fountains are coming to the trail in 2025 thanks to a $475,000 grant we helped secure from the National Park Foundation. The water fountains will provide year round water and also have bottle fillers.
Replacement bike racks for the rest areas on the southern half of the trail and a new bike rack at Gravelly are coming in early 2025 thanks to a grant we secured from Athletic Brewing.
Our volunteers spent 4,141 hours fixing trail bumps, patching potholes, trimming low branches, clearing sightlines and making repairs. That’s equivalent to providing over two full time employees to improving the trail and a $210,000 investment in the trail based on the estimated average hourly value of a volunteer in the DC area.
There’s still a lot of improvements to accomplish and the biggest limitation is funding. If you want to help make the Mount Vernon Trail better and triple your investment, then make a donation today.
Big thank you to everyone from the forum who donated and volunteered this year.