Mission Statement
The mission of the Association is to protect, preserve and promote the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail so as to reflect it world-class significance, for the enjoyment, education and adventure of hikers and equestrians.

The Association strives to achieve this mission by:

• Promoting the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail as a unique educational and recreation treasure and as one of the finest trails anywhere in the world
• Providing a broad range of services to its membership, including serving as a communications link among users and land management agencies, and publishing trail information;
• Assisting the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies in the maintenance and restoration of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail.

The current Pacific Crest Trail Association was formed in 1977, and is the natural outgrowth and merger of many smaller organizations dating back to the 1930's, all of which advocated and worked diligently on creating one continuous scenic trail along the crest of the major mountain ranges of the Pacific rim from Mexico to Canada. An outgrowth of that effort was the National Scenic Trails Act, which assigned primary responsibility for the trail, its construction and maintenance to the Department of Agriculture and the Forest Service.