To inspire an increased cognoscence for conservation through action and activism for public lands, outdoor recreation and equity in access.
Author of Trail Work, slated for release May, 2026
TRAIL WORK: A Memoir of Public Lands, Loss, and the Hidden History Beneath Our Feet
Early Praise
“Our public lands—now under constant attack from Washington—are one of America’s greatest legacies. This powerful book makes clear that they are places for more than recreation—they are our history, and our best possible future.”
—Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature
“Dillon Osleger is a new voice in the wilderness, and what a voice it is. Trail Work is meditative, instructive and surprising at every switchback.”
—Jason Roberts, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Every Living Thing
“Both elegiac and optimistic, Trail Work reveals how wilderness trails—whether visible or vestigial—embody the complex history of public lands in the United States. Following old pathways is, in fact, a kind of time travel.”
—Marcia Bjornerud, author of Timefulness (Burroughs Medal)
“Both a sweeping historical palimpsest, a cartographic detective story, and an inspiring memoir of a life spent working outdoors, this book will enliven and enlighten any lover of wild landscapes. “
-Robert Moor, best-selling author of On Trails: An Exploration (National Outdoor Book Award & Saroyan Prize winner)
“Trail Work is a detective story revealing how trails and maps connect us not only to landscape, but to stories, to history, to each other, and most importantly, to ourselves.”
–Rick Ridgeway, author of Life Lived Wild (National Outdoor Book Award)
Trail Work is a lyrical memoir and work of reportage that uncovers the buried stories beneath America’s trails. Combining personal narrative, field science, forgotten histories, and political insight, Dillon Osleger—geologist, public lands advocate, and trail builder—guides readers along forgotten paths to reveal how trails shape culture, access, identity, and belonging.
From the high Sierra to Santa Barbara, Trail Work traces how land is lost, restored, misremembered, and reclaimed. In the process, it asks what we owe to the places that carry us.
Dillon Osleger 