TrailBlog

Florida's Pinellas Trail in Dunedin | Photo courtesy Pinellas County Marketing and Communications

New TrailNation Collaborative Community to Escalate Trail Network Development Nationwide

Posted 11/16/22 by Mary Ellen Koontz, Heather Irish in Building Trails | Tagged with Connected Systems, Demand for Trails, Funding, TrailNation, Why Use Trails?

RTC is bringing together its expertise and network of thousands of partners nationwide to launch the TrailNation Collaborative—a learning community where advocates, public leaders and professionals can come together to share their experiences, their challenges and their strategies for accelerating the pace of connecting trails and active transportation infrastructure.

Oregon's Crown Zellerbach Trail | Photo by Dale Latham

Oregon’s Crown Zellerbach Trail

Posted 11/15/22 by Amy Grisak in America's Trails | Tagged with Heritage and Restoration, History Happened Here, Local Organizing, Oregon, Trail of the Month

Winding 25 miles through the northwest corner of Oregon, the Crown Zellerbach Trail (affectionately nicknamed the Crown Z Trail) serves as a rolling journey into history, introducing visitors to the home of the region’s First Peoples, the legacy of the area’s railroad and timber industries and intriguing geological events.

Atlantic Greenway South Beach Trail, part of the Miami LOOP | Photo by Lee Smith

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy Awards $300,000+ to Support Inclusive Trail Projects Across the Nation

Posted 11/14/22 by Mary Ellen Koontz in Building Trails | Tagged with Baltimore Greenway Trails Coalition, BATC, Capital Trails Coalition, Circuit Trails, Funding, Great American Rail-Trail, IHTC, Miami LOOP, Route of the Badger, RTC in Action

RTC has awarded a combined $300,000+ in grants to 25 organizations working in rural, suburban and urban communities across the country as part of the 2022 Trail Grants program.

Rail Arts District along the Napa Valley Vine Trail in California | Photo courtesy Napa Valley Vine Trail Coalition

Record-Breaking Investments in California’s Trails Amid Major Demand

Posted 11/14/22 by Laura Cohen, Heather Irish in America's Trails | Tagged with BATC, California, Connected Systems, Demand for Trails, Funding, TrailNation, Walkability and Bikeability

The start of 2022 brought a significant opportunity for California trails and ended in a historic victory—as the state announced a $1 billion+ investment for trails and active transportation for fiscal year (FY) 2023.

Packed up for the return trip at Morgan's Riverside Campground | Photo courtesy McKinney Middle School

Ohio Students Venture Into the Wild

Posted 11/09/22 by Anietra Hamper in America's Trails, Health and Wellness | Tagged with How-to, Ohio, Walkability and Bikeability, Why Use Trails?

“We should be exposing our students to lifelong physical activity and should be helping them develop the skills and confidence to enjoy those activities,” said Jack Hatert, principal of McKinney Middle School. “Our schools are the heartbeat of a cycling community, and we have to pass the passion on to our students.”

National Trails Interpretive Center in Casper, Wyoming | Photo by Amy Kapp

10 Great Places of Learning Along the Great American Rail-Trail

Posted 11/04/22 by Zach Zimmerman in Trail Use | Tagged with Best Of, Great American Rail-Trail, History Happened Here, Top10, Tourism , Trail Destinations, Trail Use Tips, Why Use Trails?

The Great American Rail-Trail® and its hosts trails connect to many places of learning, history and culture where students can take a break from the grind of classwork and explore. Here are some of our favorites.

Arriving home at the end of the Great American Rail-Trail journey | Photo courtesy David Berrigan

Trail Moments | Fulfilling a Lifelong Dream on the Great American Rail-Trail

Posted 11/03/22 by David Berrigan in Trail Use | Tagged with Connected Systems, Encouraging Trail Use, Gear, Great American Rail-Trail, How-to, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations, Trail Use Tips, Why Use Trails?

The stars aligned a few years ago when family, work and life combined with Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s announcement of their Great American Rail-Trail® project to push me toward a serious commitment to a long-distance bike trip.

The Poe Museum and its famous kitty ambassadors, Edgar and Pluto, near the Virginia Capital Trail in Richmond | Photo courtesy The Poe Museum

Trailside: Richmond’s (Haunted?) Poe Museum and the Legacy of a Gothic Literary Master

Posted 10/28/22 by Amy Kapp in Trail Use | Tagged with History Happened Here, Tourism , Trail Destinations, Virginia

To celebrate Halloween this year, let's shine a light on a 100-year cultural attraction in Richmond, The Poe Museum, which sits just a block from the 52-mile Virginia Capital Trail and pays homage to one of America’s greatest gothic writers: Edgar Allan Poe.

Washington's Olympic Discovery Trail | Photo by TrailLink user stevelee73

Five Leaf-Peeping Destinations Along the Great American Rail-Tail

Posted 10/26/22 by Agueda Pacheco Flores in America's Trails, Trail Use | Tagged with District Of Columbia, Great American Rail-Trail, Iowa, Maryland, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Trail Destinations, Washington

While the warmth of the long summer days may be behind us, the beauty of the outdoors is not. More than half the trees across North America will morph into bright orange, yellow and deep red as fall comes into full swing.