National Trails Day was started in 1993 by the American Hiking Society and has been held the first Saturday in June ever since as a celebration of our natural surroundings. Here’s a sampling of the events around NJ. Follow @HikeNJ on twitter for updates and other event announcements.

Official AHS Events List

The motherload of this weekend’s events can be found on the American Hiking Society’s New Jersey Events page. The 20+ events listed across NJ span from volunteer cleanup crews at Bass River State Forest or Black Run Preserve, to cycling in Freehold, to outdoor classes at the EMS store in Paramus. Check the event descriptions for details, directions, and registration information.

Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival

The Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival again returns to the Schiff Nature Preserve in Mendham, NJ this Friday and Saturday. The festival acts as a benefit for the Schiff Natural Lands Trust and tickets each night are only $20. The event also includes a hike or hay ride through the park to the theatre, actions, and activities for children. Film schedule, tickets, and directions can be found on the Film Festival site. Here’s a two of the films, a trailer forThe Best Country: People Restoring Rivers, and a short mocumentary The Majestic Plastic Bag:

NY NJ Trail Conference at Bear Mountain, NY

The NYNJTC will be celebrating National Trails Day with a dedication of a wheelchair accessble portion of the Appalachian Trail at the summit of Bear Mountain with hikes for all experience groups, live music, and more. The Summer Meeting 2011 page has all the details.

And if you’re attending or organizing and event not mentioned here, please leave the details in a comment or contact me via twitter.

Live alphorn music at the 2010 festival stop in NYC. Photo by Chris Casciano.

The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour makes two stops in our area thanks to Chestnut Mountain Productions next month and tickets are starting to go on sale.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011 – Lafayette Theater, Suffern, NY [Ticket Info] [Film Lineup]

Sunday, Monday, & Tuesday, March 6, 7, 8, 2011 – Peter Norton Symphony Space, New York, NY [Ticket Info] [Film Lineup]

If you’re attending the film festival, say hi in the comments section and I’ll look out for you.

Friday evening, June 4th 2010, the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival will make a stop at Mendham’s Schiff Nature Preserve and show a selection of films from this year’s film festival which took place in January. Highlights of the night’s films include a summary cut of PBS’s National Parks: This is America series and films of local interest including Legacy of the Land a film about the Schiff natural Lands Trust narrated by Bill Moyers with busic by Moby and GrowTown Motown about building a Morristown community garden. Get full list of films, location information and ticket info.

Tickets for the event, which begins at 5:30PM, begin at $15.50 though additional donations towards the Schiff Lands Trust are encouraged and can be purchased online at the the event’s website. BaseCamp Adventure Outfitters of Basking Ridge and other local vendors are sponsoring the event and showing off their wares.

EDIT: Apologies to South Jersey, but I hadn’t initially noticed that the Film Festival’s following stop is June 11 from 6:00PM – 10:00PM at The Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor, NJ. Tickets are $25 with proceeds going to The Wetlands Institute. Here’s all the information.

And don’t forget two events celebrating the outdoors and NJ’s great parks this upcoming Saturday, May 22nd — South Mountain Reservation’s Mayapple Festival and The Big Walk.

Finally, if you’re an outdoor organization in New Jersey looking for coverage of your hikes or events chase me down at @HikeNJ on Twitter or leave a comment here with information.