A privilege of my job is to visit trails and public spaces across the country and meet inspiring supporters and leaders.

From the Delaware River to the Jersey shore, opportunities to enjoy trails and linear parks abound in the Garden State. Unfortunately, many people need to drive to a trail before experiencing their benefits.

Imagine what’s possible with a trail that connects the country. That vision will become a reality thanks to the Great American Rail-Trail, a signature project of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and the organization’s most ambitious TrailNation™ project yet.

Here is a spotlight on some of the critical TrailNation project advances we made in 2018—and how they are bringing to life our vision of trails at the heart of healthy, thriving communities.

Prescribe-a-Trail (PAT) is a program in which Philadelphia-area hospitals and health-care organizations lead outings on local trails along the Circuit Trails network.

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) and the national trail community put itself on the front lines to protect and defend trails in 2018. Here are five ways we mobilized in communities this year.

An active and enthusiastic crowd of trail advocates gathered to kick off the state’s newly formed Legislative Trails Caucus.

What’s better than a farmers’ market or community garden for providing locally grown food and encouraging good eating? Why, a market or garden next to a trail, of course!

The P2P corridor heads east out of the Ohio River port city of Parkersburg, along the North Bend Rail Trail, through small, rural communities like Cairo, West Union and Salem. Seventy-eight percent of the 150-mile West Virginia section is already complete, with a few key gaps in Wood, Harrison and Marion counties.

In May 2017, the Ohio Legislative Trails Caucus, a bipartisan group of state-elected officials, committed to an Ohio Statewide Trail System.