One of the cornerstones of Lincoln’s network, the MoPac Trail (consisting of the seamlessly connected West and East segments) begins at the University of Nebraska campus in the heart of the city and stretches eastward 27 miles, just shy of Omaha’s doorstep.

Already in place is the 13.4-mile Lower Las Vegas Wash Trail, which comprises the trail network’s eastern arc and is always a sure bet with beautiful parks, desert landscapes and vistas of the rugged mountains that ring the valley.

Both the Caperton and the pair of Mon River Trails on either side of Morgantown follow a branch of the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad, which primarily carried coal, coke, sand and limestone between the mines of Fairmont and the industrial city of Pittsburgh.

The railroad used to wind through the canyon as part of the Southern Pacific Railroad’s California-Oregon line, which was marketed in the early 1900s as “The Road to a Thousand Wonders.”