2025 PCTA Photo Contest

Submission Deadline: Monday. March, 1st, 2025

It’s that time again! Time to hit us with your best shots and enter the annual PCTA Photo Contest using the form below. The photo contest is a highlight of our year because it showcases the majesty of the Pacific Crest Trail as well as the strong, resilient spirits of the people who enjoy and support the trail in their favorite ways.

Many of the pictures we’ll publish in 2025 will come from this contest and maybe yours could be one of them! Volunteering your creativity in this way gives back to the trail community and shares the beauty, joy and accomplishment of your trail adventures with all of us. Your photos also become an important part of our advocacy and fundraising work on behalf of the trail.

Think about photographs that would look great on the cover of the PCT Communicator, in our annual calendar or in our trail protection materials? We love seeing the trail through your eyes and look forward to your submissions.

Prizes

This year, we’ll be awarding a variety of prizes to our winners—check back here as we’ll be updating the page with more info on prizes.

Contest Categories

• Trail Majesty — A photo that captures the beauty of the PCT.
• Human Spirit — A photo along the PCT that shows hikers or riders and captures the essence of being there.
• Equestrian — Any photo along the PCT that shows horses/stock and/or their riders in their PCT environment.
• Trail Work — Photos of PCTA or other trail maintenance volunteers along the PCT.
• Flora — Photos of plants along the PCT.
• Fauna — Photos of animals along the PCT.

Guidelines

• Digital images must be submitted online at www.pcta.org/photo-contest/
• Submission deadline:  Monday, March 1, 2025 at midnight Pacific time.
• Photos can be color or black & white digital images of any location along the Pacific Crest Trail
• JPEG or TIFF files are allowed and ideally higher than web-resolution (at least 300 dots-per- inch or approximately 1000×1500 pixels for a 3×5 photo).
• If you ’d like your photos to be considered for our annual calendar or magazine covers, they should be at least 8.5×11 inches at 300 dpi or approx. 2500×3300 pixels in size.
• Each photo must include a working title, location and a detailed caption.
• Photos can be horizontal or vertical. Please upload in the proper orientation.
• You can enter up to 10 photos per category.

Questions? Contact: Daniel Carmin at [email protected]

 

Your photographs help the PCTA protect the Pacific Crest Trail, the surrounding landscape and the hiking and equestrian experience for future generations. Thank you for helping to further our mission through your photography.

 

Terms

No purchase is necessary to enter or win. Void where prohibited. By entering this contest, you agree to the terms and conditions relating to this contest and you are responsible for understanding your rights.

Photos entered are considered licensed to the Pacific Crest Trail Association in perpetuity. By entering the photo contest, you are giving the PCTA the right to use your photos as we see fit to promote the trail and its protection.

You will retain copyright to any photograph you submit. You only grant the PCTA rights to your photograph royalty-free, in perpetuity, nonexclusively to:

• Reproduce, distribute, transform, display and/or to perform your photographs in all print and electronic mediums at any size.
• Use your photos worldwide.
• Provide your photograph to other individuals and organizations for non-commercial use, such as in news stories, newsletters, reports, slide shows, displays, web pages, and the like.
• Archive in electronic forms so that your photos can be used to support our mission.
• The PCTA may request additional permission to use your photo for Commercial and Editorial uses that directly benefit the PCTA and the trail.

Whenever possible, the PCTA will provide attribution in the form the photographer’s name and/or photographer’s website URL per PCTA’s discretion. Attribution will appear next to the photo or in the credits of the work product.

By entering, participants agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the PCTA, its respective subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, officers, employees, attorneys, agents and representatives, from any and all third party liability for any injuries, loss, claim, action, demand or damage of any kind arising from or in connection with the competition (collectively, “Losses”), including without limitation any third party claim for copyright infringement or a violation of an individual’s right to privacy and/or publicity right. The Contest is void where prohibited by law.

Contest entrants are responsible for ensuring that he or she has the right to submit the photos that he or she submits to the contest.

Check out our past winners

Get published by PCTA