It may be impossible to pinpoint the first person to propose the Pacific Crest Trail, but Clinton C. Clarke, founder of the Pasadena (CA) Playhouse and chairman of the Mountain League of Los Angeles, is often credited with the idea since he organized the Pacific Crest Trail System Conference in 1932 to support the concept.

Clarke's federation of hiking clubs and youth groups was devoted to developing an interconnected system of existing trails and new construction that would extend all the way from Canada to Mexico on or close to the crest of the western states. This was not a new idea, but unifying the many hiking groups for this cause was.

Clarke organized the YMCA-PCT Relays, held during the summers of 1935 through 1938. During these relays, 40 teams of young hikers (ages 14-18) under the direction of a young YMCA outdoorsman, Warren Rogers, scouted a route for the trail. They carried a log book north from Campo on the Mexican border, eventually reaching milepost 78 on the Canadian border.

Rogers became more involved and served as the Conference executive secretary with Clarke, organizing support for a border-to-border trail for the next twenty-five years until Clarke's death in 1957. The result of this effort and others, was the enactment of the National Trails Act in 1968.

The Act called for the appointment of a Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail Advisory Council to develop the route, design and management plan for the trail. The Council held its first meeting in 1970. The Pacific Crest Trail System Conference was well represented on the Council. Rogers served as a member along with the co-founder of the American Hiking Society and Conference member, Louise Marshall; Conference leader and California trail equestrian, Charles Vogel; and Oregon Obsidian Club member and eventual Conference president, Larry Cash. Other members represented cattle ranchers, timber and mineral interests, youth organizations, Native Americans and the governors of each of the three trail states.

The Pacific Crest Trail Association was first incorporated as the Pacific Crest Trail Conference in 1977 under the leadership of Rogers and M. Merritt Podley. It was the natural outgrowth of the old Pacific Crest Trail System Conference, and Pacific Crest Trail Club, an individual membership group that Rogers founded for hikers and equestrians.

Rogers ran the Conference and Club from his home in Santa Ana until his health failed him. He relinquished the helm to Vogel, Cash, and Marshall in the early 1980's. The Club was merged into the Conference, and the name was changed to Pacific Crest Trail Association in 1992 to reflect the focus and volunteer structure of the group as an individual membership organization, rather than a federation of outdoor clubs. The board of directors developed bylaws for governance of the organization and took charge.

Board members are elected for three year terms, with one third of the members being elected each year by the entire membership. Committees were established to deal with various aspects of the organization, and financial records were maintained in an orderly fashion and available for all to see.

In June, 1993, the Pacific Crest Trail Association joined the U.S. Forest Service and other land management agencies in celebrating the completion of the trail with a "Golden Spike" ceremony near Soledad Canyon in the Angeles National Forest.

That same year, the Association signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Interior, the Forest Service, Park Service and the BLM. This agreement recognizes the Association as the federal government's major partner in the management and operation of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail.

With help in the form of a USFS grant, the Association hired its first paid staff in 1993. The Forest Service's intent was to have the staff design and develop an Association structure that would give leadership to a membership expansion effort, maintain the trail with volunteer work parties, and become self-supporting.

Full color brochures promoting the trail were printed and distributed through the federal agencies, but membership numbers remained relatively stagnant. A long range plan to guide the growth of the Association was developed and adopted by the board of directors in 1995. Growth and serving the needs of its members became the Association's main focus.

An executive secretary was employed, a toll-free telephone number was installed, an Internet website was developed, and greater attention was given to the timely publication of the Association's bi-monthly magazine. Arrangements were made with the USFS to allow the Association to issue visitor permits to members who were traveling more than 500 miles on the PCT. To help fund these added services and recognize those members who support the Association with an annual membership of $1,000 or more, the Trail Guardian Club was established.

However, developing the financial resources to fulfill its role as the protector and promoter of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, while supporting an enlarged volunteer structure, required special skills. An executive director with association management and financial development experience was hired, and an administrative assistant added, in 1996.