TrailBlog

How to Adapt Trail Activities and Gear for Cold and Winter Conditions

Posted 11/23/20 by Emilia Benton in America's Trails, Trail Use | Tagged with Repairs and Trail Safety, Biking, COVID-19, Encouraging Trail Use, Equity, Gear, How-to, People with Disabilities, Trail Use Tips, Winter Uses

New York's Highline | Photo by Adrian Cabrero

Common outdoor activities such as walking, hiking, running and cycling can be done safely in the fall and winter, as long as you’re adequately prepared and plan to recreate responsibly.

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Metropolitan Branch Trail in Washington, D.C., and Maryland | Photo by India Kea

How to Build Physical Activity Into Daily Life on Trails During COVID-19

Posted 11/20/20 by Cory Matteson in America's Trails, Health and Wellness, Trail Use | Tagged with COVID-19, Encouraging Trail Use, Health and Active Living, Healthy Aging, People with Disabilities, Trail Use Tips, Walkability and Bikeability, Why Use Trails?

Getting outside right now, especially on local trails, can provide a wealth of benefits to your body and mind—once you get in the habit. Some of the most common trail activities—biking, skating, running—can burn over a thousand calories in an hour’s time. And being out in nature—especially right now, as more people are staying home and cool weather is making people less inclined to step outside—can strengthen your resilience and mental health.

Historic Battlefield Trail | Photo by TrailLink user Christina Garza

Texas’ Historic Battlefield Trail

Posted 11/13/20 by Laura Stark in America's Trails | Tagged with Best Of, Texas, Trail Businesses, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month

The Historic Battlefield Trail has become a catalyst for a burgeoning 428-mile trail network that will link the rich natural, cultural and historical resources of the Lower Rio Grande Valley, and promote increased physical activity regionwide.

John Ernest Berry III on the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail in Washington State in August 2019 during a five-day trip with colleague and friend Bob Myrick | Photo by Bob Myrick

Five Days and 100 Miles: A Trip of a Lifetime Across the Cascades (A Memoire)

Posted 11/09/20 by Sue Nicholson in Trail Use, America's Trails | Tagged with Biking, People with Disabilities, Success Stories, Trail Destinations, Trail Use Tips, Washington

John became a staunch advocate for wear-a-helmet programs after the accident that would change his life. While bicycling downhill, a car pulled in front of him—resulting in a collision in which he was propelled through a windshield at 38 miles an hour. He was not wearing a helmet. As a result of the accident, he suffered a brain injury that caused severe short-term memory loss, speech and vision problems, and partial paralysis on his left side. He walks with a cane.

Courtesy Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

This Bouquet of #TrailMoments Will Inspire You

Posted 11/05/20 by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in America's Trails, Trail Use, Health and Wellness | Tagged with Best Of, Trail Moments, Why Use Trails?

Through our national Trail Moments initiative, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is inviting everyone—both new and tried-and-true trail users—to share these special moments of connection and demonstrate what trails mean to each of us right now. Here, we’ve collected a small bouquet of #TrailMoments from people across the country; we hope you are as inspired as we are!

Three Rivers Heritage Trail | Courtesy Healthy Ride, Pittsburgh Bike Share

Six Tips to Carry Your Summer Biking Habit Into Fall

Posted 11/05/20 by PeopleForBikes in America's Trails, Trail Use, Health and Wellness | Tagged with Encouraging Trail Use, Gear, Health and Active Living, How-to, Trail Use Tips, Winter Uses

The beauty of autumn also means cooler temperatures, earlier sunsets and sometimes less-than-ideal weather. For the many of you who picked up biking for the first time this summer or returned after a long hiatus, the thought of braving colder weather while riding might feel intimidating.

Photo by Hunter Franklin, courtesy Facebook.com/dollsheadtrail

Five Creepy Cool Trailside Attractions

Posted 10/28/20 by Amy Kapp in America's Trails | Tagged with COVID-19, District Of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, History Happened Here, Maryland, Ohio, Trail Destinations

The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy editorial team really loves Halloween. And while this year may not see the normal amount of costume- and candy-filled events due to safety measures surrounding COVID-19—we still thought we’d present this list of some of our favorite creepy trailside attractions for some much-needed levity (no pun intended?) and fun!

Doll’s Head Trail in DeKalb County’s Constitution Lakes Park, Atlanta, Georgia | Photo by Marcus O. Bst | CC BY 2.0 GENERIC

Atlanta’s Doll’s Head Trail Is an Eerily Cool Trailside Attraction—With a Great Cause

Posted 10/27/20 by Amy Kapp in America's Trails | Tagged with Georgia, Maintenance and Volunteers, Trail Destinations

It began as kind of a dark joke, all told, but the Doll’s Head Trail—a name that doesn’t quite sum up the 2.5-mile whimsical (and sometimes creepy) trail-turned-art exhibit tucked away in DeKalb, County’s Constitution Lakes Park in Atlanta, Georgia—has evolved into a regional and national attraction since its inception a decade ago.

Image by RTC, Photos courtesy Hollie S.

She Moved Cross-Country During COVID: How One Runner Is Connecting to Her New Community on Trails

Posted 10/26/20 by Hollie S. in America's Trails, Trail Use, Health and Wellness | Tagged with COVID-19, Health and Active Living, Trail Moments, Why Use Trails?

Moving across the country during the pandemic was one of the scariest—but also most exciting—things we've ever done. Along the way, we stopped at several rail-trails. Running on trails was one of the best and most enjoyable ways to see the country safely.

Metropolitan Branch Trail | Photo by India Kea

Americans Urged to #RecreateResponsibly As Trail Use Surges During COVID

Posted 10/23/20 by Christina Sturdivant Sani in America's Trails, Trail Use | Tagged with COVID-19, Encouraging Trail Use, Trail Etiquette, Trail Moments, Trail Use Tips, Why Use Trails?

Across the country, some trails spiked to levels more than 200% higher than the same time last year, according to trail count data released by RTC in July. Currently, trail use is still far exceeding previous usage; since the pandemic began, RTC’s trail count data shows that usage has been 60% higher [on average] than in 2019.

Vincent Viars and his running partners on the Mon River Trail | Courtesy Vincent Viars

Morgantown Man Gets a Running Start to a Healthier Life on Trails

Posted 10/23/20 by Laura Stark in Health and Wellness, America's Trails | Tagged with COVID-19, Encouraging Trail Use, Health and Active Living, Healthy Aging, IHTC, Trail Moments, West Virginia, Why Use Trails?

Vincent Viars is running for his life. Both his mother and one sister had suffered from heart problems and diabetes, passing away in their 60s. Another sister had triple bypass surgery and several stents. Overweight and living a sedentary lifestyle, Viars’ gnawing fear of dying grew as he approached middle age, so he decided to make a change with a health journey that began one literal step at a time.