Rachel O'Neil Adventure Treks Trip Leader

Rachel

Support staff

Rachel is our full-time associate director. Hailing from Green Bay, WI, she attended the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire and earned a bachelor’s degree in social work. Since 2018, she’s been an instructor, trip leader, and regional director with Adventure Treks, taking summer 2022 off to thru-hike the Pacific Coast Trail with her husband! In College, she spent her summers leading backpacking, canoeing, and kayaking trips in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota for Camp U-Nah-Li-Ya, and after college completed a thru-hike of the 2,200-mile-long Appalachian Trail.

  • Education: University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire; bachelor’s degree in social work
  • Certification: Wilderness first responder
  • Favorite outdoor memory: This one is so hard! Seeing a cloud inversion sunset in the White Mountains in NH, canoeing in the boundary waters in Minnesota, seeing moose in Colorado on an AT trip. Or that first meal and evening meeting on an AT backpack when everyone may be tired, but then seeing how far the students have come and what they’ve accomplished day one is incredible (and the silliness and jokes that come in the days following)!
  • Biggest outdoor achievement: Thru-hiking the 2,186-mile Appalachian Trail!
  • Favorite hobbies: Hiking, mountain biking, hand-lettering, making bougie coffee, and stalking adventure cats on Instagram.

2025 enrollment is now open for returning families! Click here to re-enroll for next summer.