Posts by Jake Lynch

The P2P: World-Class Trail Network to Kick-Start Bike Tourism Boom in West Virginia and Pennsylvania

Posted 05/17/18 by Kelly Pack, Jake Lynch in Building Trails, America's Trails | Tagged with Connected Systems, Corridors and Railbanking, Demand for Trails, IHTC, Local Organizing, Pennsylvania, RTC in Action, Rural Communities, Tourism , Tourism and Economic Development, Tourism and Economic Stimulus, TrailNation, Walkability and Bikeability, West Virginia

Railroad bridge seen from the Mon River Trail | Photo by Ella Belling

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.

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Fort Duquesne Bridge and Walkway along the Three Rivers Heritage Trail in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (the hub for the developing 1,450-mile Industrial Heartland Trails Coalition vision). | Photo courtesy Wally Gobetz | CC by 2.0

1,450-Mile Developing Trail Network to Revitalize America’s Industrial Heartland

Posted 03/29/16 by Jake Lynch in Building Trails, America's Trails | Tagged with Celebrating 30 Years, Connected Systems, IHTC, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tourism and Economic Development, Trail Destinations, Walkability and Bikeability, West Virginia

The Industrial Heartland Trails Coalition envisions a 1,450-mile system of off-road trails that will connect many of the major centers of America’s Rust Belt and industrial Appalachia. The trail network will span 48 counties across Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and New York. Here's more about this ambitious project.

The North Bend Rail Trail out of North Bend State Park, near Cairo, West Virginia. | Photo by Jake Lynch

West Virginia's North Bend Rail Trail

Posted 12/09/15 by Jake Lynch in America's Trails, Building Trails | Tagged with Rural Communities, Success Stories, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month, West Virginia

There aren’t many rail-trail stories like this. In the late 1980s, the abandoned CSX rail corridor that would one day become the North Bend Rail Trail was little more than an overgrown afterthought—a dumping ground, a place for derelict “partying,” an informal pathway for hunters and landowners in a densely wooded part of rural West Virginia. All that was about to change.

Fall vista from the Bizz Johnson National Recreation Trail in California| Photo by Stan Bales, courtesy Bureau of Land Management

The Alternative List: 10 Great Trails for Fall (Under the Radar)

Posted 10/08/15 by Jake Lynch in America's Trails | Tagged with Best Of, Trail Destinations, Wild and Wonderful

Fall is a great time for trail adventures. Cooler weather, that crisp, fresh air, and the bright colors of the season inspire outdoor enthusiasts everywhere. Dominating the season's lists of best trails for fall are always the long, rural pathways of New England, famous for their colorful foliage where leaf-peepers flock each October. But for those of you looking for a fall adventure that might not be on everyone's bucket list, we've uncovered some less-heralded rail-trail gems.

Heritage Rail Trail County Park | Photo by John Gensor

Top 10 Rail-Trails for American History: A Fourth of July List

Posted 07/02/15 by Jake Lynch in America's Trails | Tagged with Best Of, Heritage and Restoration

This Independence Day weekend, celebrate the birth and growth of America by riding or striding into the past. These former railroad corridors are deeply rooted in American tradition, trials and triumphs, and they provide accessible and inexpensive getaways. We hope you enjoy this list of Top 10 Rail-Trails for American History!

Photo by Joe Gall

Made in Detroit: Energy, Optimism and the Resurgence of America's Motor City

Posted 04/08/15 by Jake Lynch in Success Stories | Tagged with Biking, Featured Magazine Articles, Michigan, Success Stories

At the Motown Café and Grill on East Jefferson Avenue one October morning last year, a small group gathers in a booth near the window. The visitors peer out, studying with some interest the wide roadway in front of the diner. Minutes pass between solitary cars. The six lanes of East Jefferson Avenue—as wide as most interstate highways—are for the most part empty. “For people who do what we do,” says one of the visitors, a man from Ohio, “this city is amazing.” Around the Motown, eyebrows are raised. It is a description that, in recent times, is not often heard here in Detroit.

Photo © Mighk Wilson/Commute Orlando

By Rail and Trail: SunRail Service Opens a Whole New World on Florida's East Coast

Posted 08/05/14 by Jake Lynch in Trail Use | Tagged with Connected Systems, Florida, Rail-with-Trail, Tourism and Economic Stimulus

2014 has already been a huge year for trails in Florida, with funding secured for the Coast-to-Coast Connector project, the All Aboard Florida rail-with-trail proposal building steam and locals beating back a number of political threats to active transportation.

Photo © US Dept. of Transportation

Transpo' Secretary Foxx: More Attention Will Be Paid to Biking and Walking

Posted 01/16/14 by Jake Lynch in Policy | Tagged with Champions, Federal

"We also have to make a special effort to look out for modes of transportation that, traditionally, don't get much attention." With these words, Secretary of the United States Department of Transportation, Anthony Foxx, yesterday offered a glimmer of hope that the nation's transportation policy may better address the millions of Americans who bike and walk as well as drive a car or use transit.

Photo © Mike Gippert

The Word From Florida: 10 Great Things Happening in the Sunshine State

Posted 01/03/14 by Jake Lynch in America's Trails | Tagged with Best Of, Florida

Despite recognized challenges, Floridians around the state have been generating lots of sweat equity in the alternative transportation scene these days. They are working to get new projects completed and making the landscape safer and more convenient for the growing number of people who are choosing biking and walking as their mode of transportation.