"The mission of the Grand Canyon Hikers and Backpackers Association is to promote, encourage and advocate the interests of the hiking and backpacking community in the regions of Grand Canyon."

The Grand Canyon Hikers and Backpackers Association was founded as a direct result of the Yahoo Grand Canyon Hikers mailing list and forum. Many members of GCHBA continuously monitor postings to this forum and we invite you to post you questions, concerns and comments regarding hiking and backpacking in the Grand Canyon to this forum. Help is only a "post" away.

Through the use of the Grand Canyon Hikers forum we hope to encourage hiking and backpacking which has as little impact as possible on the Grand Canyon's fragile desert environment. We also promote safety as a primary concern and encourage people to get as much information as possible about the regions in which they plan to be hiking or backpacking. Too many of us have seen the results of hikers and backpackers who did not have the proper information prior to the start of their trips. Many such trips end in disaster with an expensive helicopter evacuation or even worse, death. Many of us have made enough of our own mistakes and by sharing these experiences we hope to enable others to avoid them in the future.

In an effort to assist hikers and backpackers who are planning trips to the Canyon we have a database of inner canyon water resources that can be updated on-line via the Internet by GCHBA's members. The information in this database can then be viewed by members and non-members alike. A historical record of changes to a given water source will also be tracked.

We also hope to maintain a good relationship with Grand Canyon National Park as well as the National Park Service itself and hope to work with them closely to be certain that our goals are achieved. In an effort to get this process started many members of our group have volunteered to help out on service projects being carried out within the park. In the future this work may go so far as helping to maintain trails or backcountry campsites within the Canyon.

GCHBA Board Of Directors