There’s a spot on the Foothills Trail in western Washington where I always slow down. It’s not a sudden steep climb or dicey patch of gravel that causes me to feather my bike brakes on the outskirts of Orting.

The Rio Grande Trail is quintessential Colorado, featuring a sparkling river, rustling aspens and scented pines against a backdrop of towering mountains.

The beloved Rio Grande Trail traverses this rich mix of terrains along a 42-mile route (nearly all paved) winding from the famed ski town of Aspen to Glenwood Springs.

Winding under lush tree canopies and through rocky cuts in the hillsides of the Appalachian region, the North Bend Rail Trail exemplifies “Wild and Wonderful” West Virginia.

Rail-trails join the Walkway and spin out into the hillsides in either direction: the Hudson Valley Rail Trail on the west bank and Dutchess Rail Trail

May Theilgaard Watts was a writer, illustrator, naturalist, scientist and teacher. Her determination that Americans stay connected to their natural landscape in a time of increasing urbanization was the catalyst that led to the formation of the Illinois Prairie Path,

In 2016, RTC celebrated its 30th anniversary and the birth and evolution of the American Rail-Trail Movement.

At the doorstep to the Blue Ridge Mountains of South Carolina, the Swamp Rabbit Trail has become so integrated into the culture of its trailside towns

In honor of RTC’s 30th anniversary, here are 10 game-changers of the rail-trail movement.

A thread of black in an emerald blanket, the Banks-Vernonia State Trail weaves its way between two peaceful towns in the foothills of Northwest Oregon’s Coast Range.