Fall 2026 Magazine

The story of trails and their impact on our lives and communities—for health and wellness, economic vitality, cultural connectivity and quality of life—that’s the overriding theme of our Fall 2026 issue of Rails to Trails magazine.

In this edition, we:

• Explore how trails are serving as lifelines for our mental health and wellness and vital routes for rejuvenation while helping to combat America’s loneliness epidemic. 
• Learn how Greensboro, North Carolina’s newly completed Downtown Greenway is serving as a vibrant connector for neighborhoods and a conduit to showcase the city’s cultural and natural highlights and heritage. 
• Get to know Juliette Rizzo, a nationally renowned accessibility and safe streets advocate who is championing change around the United States.  
• Treat ourselves to some stunning views of Virginia’s Mount Vernon Trail, Rails to Trails Conservancy’s 2026 national Hall of Fame Inductee. 
• Take in some baseball heritage in Kansas and learn about the extraordinary life in the 1800s of California rancher Elizabeth Jane Atkinson in our history feature. 
• Check out the Utah Trail Network, an ambitious plan to connect 2,600 miles of multiuse trails across the state. 
• Find out how the city of Papillion’s butterflies are making “spirits soar” trailside along Nebraska’s West Papio Trail. 
• And much more!

Green Issue 2026

Celebrating milestones of the national trails movement—that’s the theme of this year’s 2026 Green Issue of Rails to Trails as we observe America’s 250th birthday and the 40th anniversary of Rails to Trails Conservancy.

Through stories of the trails we love, the communities they inspire and the connections they create, we’ve paused to examine the profound and powerful ways these vital assets continue to bring positive change across America.

In this edition, we:

• Hear from a team of veterans bicycling across the country on the Great American Rail-Trail^®, as well as elected leaders and residents, about how trails are transforming the American experience.
• Take a look at how RTC—at the forefront of the trails movement—has helped see game-changing rail-trails to fruition in collaboration with communities from around the United States.
• Explore eight unique and awe-inspiring trailside geological wonders identified and featured through the U.S. Geological Survey’s Geoheritage Sites of the Nation project.
• Explore how communities, funders and public leaders have come together to make the Circuit Trails into one of the most effective, collaborative and nationally significant trail networks in the nation.
• Hear from members of #TeamRTC as they show off some of their favorite and most inspiring landscapes, art and attractions found along America’s multiuse trails.
• And much more!

We Want to Hear From You!

Our members always have plenty to say (and write) about Rails to Trails—and we’re always eager to hear it! If you enjoyed or have comments on a recent issue of the magazine, please submit a short letter to our editor. If we can—we’ll print it in the next edition! You can also contact us for former issues and articles of Rails to Trails not listed in the archive. Don’t forget to check out our TrailBlog for more stories.