Meet Cindy Ross

Author/speaker/hiker extraordinaire Cindy Ross will join us at the 2021 Round Hill Appalachian Trail Festival. On Saturday, Ross will talk about "Life-long Learning on the Trail," sharing her experiences hiking, cycling and paddling long-distance trails over the past four decades. On Sunday, she will lead a workshop, "Bringing Back the Experience," where participants can join her for "a little journal writing, photography and sketching in the field."

First published in 1982, Cindy Ross’s A Woman’s Journey recounts her A.T. trek in words and 125 illustrations, and it's been inspiring hikers for forty years. Since penning that first book, Cindy Ross has gone on to write about her journeys on the Pacific Crest Trail, the Continental Divide Trail (with children!) and other wild spots around the world. Hiking, cycling, riding and paddling have brought Ross to Asia, Africa, South America, Europe and all across North America.

Ross's seventh book, The World Is Our Classroom: How One Family Used Nature and Travel to Shape an Extraordinary Education, came out in 2018. She released two more books in 2021: The Log Cabin Years—One Couple Builds a Home from Scratch and Creates a Life and Walking Towards Peace: Veterans Healing on America’s Trails. The latter tells the stories of 25 veterans who hike both long and short distance to heal from their war wounds, as well Ross's stories based on work with her nonprofit, River House PA—Helping Veterans in Nature. Ross will be available both days to sign books at our festival.

Besides her books, Ross has written over 500 magazine articles for national publications including Outside, Backpacker, Paddler, Gray’s Sporting Journal, Outdoor Life, Canoe & Kayak, Adventure Cyclist, Sailing, Wooden Boat, Scouting and Native Peoples. Her travel stories have appeared in newspapers including The LA Times, The San Francisco Examiner, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, The Toronto Star, The Christian Science Monitor, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Chicago Tribune and The Baltimore Sun.

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