With a GPS unit strapped to his bicycle handlebars a Rails-to-Trails Conservancy staff member maps a trail. Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is collecting trail data using GPS units like this one.
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	If your trail group is interested in helping with this important initiative, please contact Rhonda Border-Boose at the Midwest Regional Office at Rhonda@railstotrails.org or (614) 837-6782. Buy the Newest RTC Guidebook—Rail-Trails: Southeast

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy Launches Mapping Research Trips:

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) has launched a new series of guidebooks that highlight rail-trail trips by region. As part of this major endeavor, RTC's Midwest Regional Office has embarked on a series of guidebook research trips, collecting crucial GIS mapping data, photographs and descriptions of regional trails in the Great Lakes states. Three regions—the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and New England—have already been mapped. You can purchase the the newly published "Rail-Trails: Southeast" guidebook in our online store.

The mapping of these open rail-trails is even more crucial to RTC's goal of connecting more Americans to trails. RTC is using Global Positioning System (GPS) units to collect data that will be entered in a Geographic Information System (GIS), providing guidebook-users with accurate information on how to access trailheads, amenities and other interesting trail features. 

With GPS units becoming more affordable, many rail-trail users are already relying on GPS data to log their routes and track their mileage. Various Web sites allow users to upload their routes and times and share and compare their stats with friends and other enthusiasts. 

Over the next six months, the four-person staff at the Midwest Regional office will collect data from more than 100 trails in six states: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. To expedite this process, RTC is working with interns and local trail groups to gather some of the data.