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Preserve, Promote

Longstanding Outdoor Club Begins Its Season

The Allegheny Outdoor Club has been meeting, hiking and caring for the outdoors for more than 50 years. The group will be in Chautauqua County on June 23. Submitted photos

A regional nature club has just started its 2019 schedule.

Based in Warren, Pa., the Allegheny Outdoor Club plans Sunday outdoor excursion trips to the northwestern parts of the state. A typical trip involves outdoor activities to a state park and/or trail, campgrounds and similar locations. The group plans Sunday trips to areas around the Northwestern Pennsylvania and Western New York regions. While summer is the most active season for members, the club hosts events year-round. Events include hiking, biking, kayaking and cross country skiing.

“We typically plan for every three months,” AOC president Linda Ross said. “We try to plan for every weekend.”

Every hike arranged by the organization is designed to be nearly 4 to 5 miles. Biking excursions are usually planned for 20 miles.

Members are equally diverse in the club. Ross said members often range in age from their 40s to their 80s. Ross also said many current members are from relatives that have been with the club in previous generations.

The club makes trips to Pennsylvania locations such as the Kinzua Dam, Heart’s Run, Presque Isle, Spetz Hill, Lake Wilhelm and Oil Creek. In New York, the group has made excursions to various regions of Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties. Locations have included the Chautauqua Gorge and areas around Olean, Mayville and Dunkirk.

“We often go across the county (Warren) and up into (New York),” Ross said.

The purpose of the club is to simply enjoy the outdoors and beautify it whenever possible, Ross said. To that end, the AOC also plans various cleanup efforts throughout the year.

“We get together and try to find the beauty of the outdoors,” Ross said “We also try to clean up and make it (the outdoors) pristine as possible.”

The organization also plans road cleanup gatherings and partners with different organizations to preserve and promote the trails for the general public. Among them are Warren Gives and the Community Foundation of Warren.

Currently there are 65 members in the organization, Ross said.

The club has come a long way in its storied history. The AOC is the second iteration of the club that has been active for more than 50 years. The original club was formed in 1939 and was called the Allegheny Hiking Club. That club only lasted for five years before disbanding in 1944. The current club was the result of an effort to reform, and in doing so, their name was changed to the Allegheny Outdoor Club.

Its first year was 1968.

During its tenure, AOC also became the first outdoor club in the country to have more than 90 miles of trail under their jurisdiction.

The group was also crucial to establishing and opening the North County Trail in 1985. In 2006, watersports were added to the AOC’s list of activities.

The next AOC excursion in Chautauqua County will be on Sunday, June 23. The group will meet at the train station in Mayville at 1:30 p.m. The trip will include hiking in Chautauqua Gorge and AOC will be using the Chautauqua Creek trail during the excursion. Participants are asked to wear old shoes for the hike. For information on this trip, contact leader Dennis Anderson at 969-9772.

For more information on the AOC and a schedule of other events, visit alleghenyoutdoorclub.org, or find Allegheny Outdoor Club on Facebook.

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