Stories from the Trail: A Conversation with Tory Mather

“I hope that any time someone finds a new place that they love, that they want to protect and conserve that place.”

Tory Mather is the author of Scenic Natural Wonders of Pennsylvania and the creator of Tory Talks Trails.

She came to the project when a leg injury in 2021 gave her the time to write about hikes from her Cleveland years. As her mobility returned, the blog grew. A publisher commissioned her to catalog 84 scenic spots across the state, formatted with practical tips for every kind of visitor.

The research consumed most of a year. Tory would leave Pittsburgh on Thursday afternoons, drive to wherever her next cluster of sites was, and spend the weekends hiking and taking notes.

Building a platform to bring more people outdoors creates a responsibility to do so well.

And so Tory practices Leave No Trace, keeps strict screen time limits to protect her own relationship with hiking, and increasingly uses her platform for conservation stories. A couple of these include land threatened by data center development and volunteer groups doing quiet stewardship.

The book is an entry point. What she cares about most is what comes next, when a reader visits a place and decides they don’t want to lose it.

Key Topics:

• From Leg Injury to Book Commission (1:37)
• 84 Places for Everybody in Pennsylvania (3:49)
• The Spreadsheet Behind the Book (11:19)
• Tory’s Favorite Place in Pennsylvania (13:24)
• Hiking for Yourself, Not for Your Feed (17:55)
• Leave No Trace and Don’t Skip the Poncho (21:52)
• Data Centers, Elk, and What’s Coming Next (24:26)
• Getting People Outside and Getting Them to Care (26:33)

Resources:

• My Trails Are Many
• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube