America 250: Reflecting on the Past, Present and Future of the Trails Movement
In 1976, thousands of people took part in the first-ever organized ride across the country. Propelled by the bike boom of the 1970s, they traveled along rural roads, demonstrating the power of bicycle tourism to deliver new financial opportunity and connections. At the time, only a few dozen multiuse trails dotted the landscape.
In the decade between the Bikecentennial and Rails to Trails Conservancy opening its doors in 1986, enthusiasm for walking and biking continued to grow, and the legal and political climate evolved to make the rapid proliferation of rail-trails and multiuse trails possible. By the early 1990s, more than 500 rail-trails existed, forever changing the ways people experienced America.
Longtime RTC member Sally Olds captured well the inspiration many had to join the trails movement, driven by curiosity for new ways to explore and navigate our communities. She said, “Forty years ago, I saw a small notice in a magazine inviting people to join a new organization that planned to turn abandoned railroad tracks into trails. Since I often rode my bike around my neighborhood, I was curious about the idea and signed up right away. I was captivated by the thought of riding without traffic worries and having fun exploring new areas.”
Today, America’s multiuse trails stretch more than 42,500 miles—and in hundreds of places, those trails are being connected into networks that reach into small towns, suburban neighborhoods and urban centers in every state.
These trails create routes that bring our country’s history to life, like Pennsylvania’s Delaware & Lehigh Trail, which follows the intertwined path of the American and Industrial revolutions, “revealing the many ways Americans are still coming together to form a more perfect union.” They make it safer to walk and bike—providing the spaces to be active outside, separated from traffic, that captured Sally’s imagination so many years ago. And they provide opportunity in countless ways that we can now quantify and expand as we look ahead to our next 40 years.
What began as a bold idea—sparking curiosity in millions of people—has become ingrained in our lives. People seek out places to live where trails can connect them to nature and to community. Local leaders know that by investing in trails, they’re investing in quality of life in ways that will endure. And as we make trails part of our daily lives, we’re able to experience life in new ways. It’s amazing what you take in when you move through space a bit more slowly and with more intention, whether you’re commuting to work or exploring on a Saturday.
As the nation prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday, I can’t help but be grateful for the gifts the country’s trails have bestowed upon us all and to marvel at the ways these spaces have transformed the American experience.
With gratitude,
Ryan Chao
President, Rails to Trails Conservancy
This article was originally published in the Spring/Summer 2026 issue of Rails to Trails magazine and has been reposted here in an edited format. Subscribe to read more articles about remarkable trails while also supporting our work.
*AI was used to assist in the updating of the title of this article for online consumption.
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