About the New York-North Jersey Chapter
Organized in 1912, the New York-North Jersey Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) was the AMC’s first chapter. The Chapter has more than 150 activity leaders who run more than 1,000 outdoor recreation activities and programs each year, including hiking and backpacking, canoeing and kayaking, birding, sailing, bicycling, mountain climbing, skiing, and yoga/meditation retreats. You can also learn wilderness first aid, how to lead trips, mountaineering, and more with AMC. The Chapter’s geographic region includes New York City, southeastern New York, including Long Island, and northeastern New Jersey. Whatever your outdoor interests are, we have something for you!
The AMC is the oldest conservation organization in the United States, and is a recognized leader in national, regional, and local conservation initiatives. AMC is actively engaged in a wide variety of science research, conservation, and outdoor education programs and led the coalition of conservation and environmental organizations responsible for lobbying Congress to permanently enact and fund the Land Water Conservation Fund.
The AMC and its 65,000 members consider ourselves ‘stewards of the forests and rivers of the Northeast.’ We promote the protection, enjoyment, and understanding of the mountains, forests, waters, and trails of the Appalachian region, and believe these resources have intrinsic worth and provide recreational opportunities, spiritual renewal, and ecological and economic health for the region.
Join us and become a part of the most diverse conservation and outdoor recreation organization in the United States.
Over nearly 150 years; through World Wars and plagues and depressions . . . AMC has held strong to our culture, traditions and values. To be sure, we recognize that our traditions sometimes meant that people who didn’t look like us, or share the same faith, or who were not from the same socio-economic background, were excluded from joining the organization. The club is actively working towards building a more inclusive organization, where everyone is welcome, and belongs.
One of the core cultural values of AMC is that of safety. Our leaders and activity participants tend to be risk-adverse individuals, and reaching a mountain summit is always of secondary importance to that of the group’s safety, and that of every individual. It is not at all uncommon for an AMC group to turn back down the trail if the weather turns bad unexpectedly, for example.
We respect property rights, and ask permission from land owners and managers before setting out on an adventure.