we re a small team of two with a huge passion for the outdoors.
We both strongly believe that something special happens when today s always-connected, high-stress world takes time to get outside and connect with the land that we re so lucky to call home. Eric is our founder, a former creative director. Rob is our co-founder, a former landscape architect. Together, we found the Georgia mountains to be the perfect place to find clarity and presence after a stressful week at work. Unfortunately, when we began to explore our state, most of the Georgia trail info we found online was terribly incorrect, outdated, and uninspiring. And this was many years before any of the big, corporate, national websites were clued in to Georgia s adventure-worthy potential. So we started publishing Atlanta Trails in 2009, with the goal of creating a top-notch adventure website and online community for Georgia. As we continued to explore, we also created Asheville Trails to continue spreading awareness and love for the South s best adventures and most beautiful places.
what are we doing? We deliver the freshest, most detailed trail info that you won t find anywhere else. We grow one of the largest communities of local explorers in the South. And we create a line of outdoor-inspired apparel that s all locally made and crafted in small batches. On our websites, we include things like original photography, interactive trail maps, detailed trail descriptions, and elevation profiles for every trail. It s the stuff that takes a ton of time to craft and create - and most other sites choose to skip. We growing our local community of explorers, runners, and hikers, and promoting the incredible talent of photographers in our state. And we deliver the finest quality outdoor apparel, made with pride in small batches right here in Atlanta and in North Carolina. To us, though, it s more than just inspiring folks to get outside. We encourage our community to adventure responsibly, to give back, and help preserve and protect the places that they love. Our sites include really important info on Leave No Trace and good trail etiquette, how to pack for each adventure, and how to give back to the hardworking groups that maintain the places we love to explore.
why are we doing this? Several years ago, we made the decision to pursue this adventure full time. It wasn t for the money: after all of our expenses, we make around half of what we used to. And we choose to be completely self-funded: we receive no sponsorships from the state, outdoor companies, outside groups, or investors. It took nine years of saving and dreaming and all-nighters to make this happen. But the rewards are pretty incredible. We LOVE inspiring our community to get outdoors, to connect with nature, to protect the lands they love, and to teach others how to enjoy the wilderness responsibly. We love partnering with Leave No Trace as official partners to help grow their incredible work and education. Funding this venture ourselves has helped us to keep our mission pure and on track. And we support other local small businesses by sourcing our made-in-the-south apparel and goods locally here in Atlanta and in North Carolina.
our ambassadors
It didn t take long to realize that our small team of two needed help to fulfill our mission. Between engaging with our community on Instagram, publishing three websites, mapping and photographing our favorite trails, sending orders, and still trying to find time to hit the trail as often as possible, we re always up late at night trying to get it all done. (Not that we re complaining. At all. We love doing this more than we ever expected!) So in 2017, we launched our first ambassador team to help us spread the word about the South s incredible outdoor community. We think it s been a huge success, thanks to the help of our ambassador crew!
if I m chosen, what s involved from my end? Sharing the love of #atlantatrails with anyone who will listen! Submitting Instagram stories from your own adventures for us to feature. Using our #atlantatrails hashtag on your photos when you re out exploring Georgia s beauty. Sharing that you re an @atlantatrails ambassador in your Instagram bio. Allowing us to feature your photos on our @AtlantaTrails, @AshevilleTrails, and @Trailful accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and our newsletter. (We ll always credit you when we do!) Always following the principles of Leave No Trace and responsible trail use when you re representing Atlanta Trails. (So no cliff jumping, waterfall climbing, off-trail bushwhacking, or that kind of stuff we re all about safe and responsible use of public lands.)
and if I m chosen, what s in it for me? We ll shine a spotlight on your talent. You ll have the chance to help represent one of the largest local outdoor communities and sites in the country, and help us show off Georgia s incredible adventure-worthy beauty. We ll send you an Atlanta Trails shirt or hat of your choice to wear on your adventures. We ll add your photo and bio to our website, which receives over 5 million views each year. (And you re welcome to link to your Instagram account as well as your own personal blog or portfolio site.) We ll humbly brag that you re our ambassador and give you credit every time we share your stories and photos. We ll give you an exclusive coupon for Atlanta Trails merch that you ll be free to share with friends, family, and followers. You ll be invited to join us on some ambassador-only hikes and meet ups we re planning. And there s more that we ll be able to share after you join our crew!
our ambassador goals Our goals for our crew are pretty simple. We d love for you to help spread our love for the outdoors in the South. And we ll be truly grateful for your help in growing awareness of our website, our community, and our accounts. While there are now plenty of huge, national, corporate sources of adventure info online, we d love to continue growing as the ultra-local, ultra-authentic, and ultra-inclusive community in the South. In exchange for helping us spread the love, we re committed to sharing the spotlight with our ambassadors, and sharing your incredible talent.
If this all sounds great, then the next step is to complete our ambassador application. We d love to get to know you better! Your answers don t need to be flowery or fancy. We d just like to know why you re interested, what you think about our mission, and why you love the outdoors. this sounds great. what s next? We re not making decisions based on the most followers or the most technical, gallery-worthy Instagram feed. Our perfect ambassador will share our love and passion for everything we re doing. If it doesn t work out this time around, we d still love to shout a huge THANKS for all of your support, and would love to stay in touch. And if we haven t met you yet out on the trail, we re looking forward to it, soon!
thanks for joining us on this adventure! - Eric & Rob