Posts by Laura Stark Page 6

Wisconsin's Kinnickinnic River Trail

Posted 01/13/15 by Laura Stark in America's Trails | Tagged with Success Stories, Tourism and Economic Stimulus, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month, Wisconsin

View of the Kinnickinnic River from the trail | Photo by John December

The story of Milwaukee’s Kinnickinnic River Trail is the story of its eponymous river; paralleling each other through the city’s south side, the fate of the two is intimately intertwined. The KK River Trail, as it’s known locally, is also referred to as the “lost river.”

Full Story
View of frozen Cherry Pond and the Presidential Range | Photo by John Compton

New Hampshire’s Presidential Range Rail Trail

Posted 12/09/14 by Laura Stark in America's Trails | Tagged with New Hampshire, Tourism and Economic Stimulus, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month, Winter Uses

We’ve found New Hampshire’s best-kept secret—the Presidential Range Rail Trail—and winter is the perfect time to visit it. With a long snowy season, generally running between mid-December and early April, there are plenty of opportunities to enjoy its spectacular views on a pair of Nordic skis or snowshoes.

A section of the Allegheny River Trail near Emlenton, Pa. | Photo by Tom Bilcze

Teacher Provides a Lesson in Trail Building

Posted 09/25/14 by Laura Stark in Building Trails | Tagged with Champions, Connected Systems, Pennsylvania, Success Stories

Personable, kind, decisive: These traits made Jim Holden both a good teacher and a trail visionary. While a professor of computer science at Clarion University of Pennsylvania more than two decades ago, he recognized the importance of preserving disused rail corridors for public use.

Photo credit Tom Bilcze

Pennsylvania's Allegheny River Trail

Posted 09/16/14 by Laura Stark in America's Trails | Tagged with Champions, Pennsylvania, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month, Wild and Wonderful

Unparalleled natural beauty? Check. Welcoming towns with friendly people? Check. Unique historical sites and a smooth, easy riding surface? Check, check. The 32-mile Allegheny River Trailin northwestern Pennsylvania seemingly has it all for a perfect getaway. And it's on the cusp of being even better; peak fall colors are expected to arrive in early to mid-October; the trail, lined with oaks, maples, elms and other tree varieties will be spectacular.

Photo by Eddie Watson, courtesyColumbia Parks and Recreation Department

Missouri's MKT Nature and Fitness Trail

Posted 08/01/14 by Laura Stark in America's Trails | Tagged with Missouri, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month

True to its name, within minutes, travelers on the MKT Nature and Fitness Trail are spirited away from lively downtown Columbia, Mo., and taken into the forest. Although the city is so close at hand, it's forgotten in the company of wild turkeys, deer and a flash of orange as a fox darts across the path. The trail—just a tad shy of nine miles—is serene with the soft crunch of feet on crushed stone, the rustle of leaves overhead and the gentle gurgle of its many creek crossings.

Photo © Dan Pieniak

Michigan's Macomb Orchard Trail

Posted 07/01/14 by Laura Stark in America's Trails | Tagged with Michigan, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month

A dusky red barn sits atop a grassy slope as wispy white clouds stir in the sky above; a placid cow strolls by and a creek runs playfully beneath a small wooden bridge. This scene, seemingly from some sweet dream, is the everyday reality on the Macomb Orchard Trail. About 30 miles north of Detroit, Mich., the rail-trail is pure rural Americana, a paved ribbon winding through rolling farm fields, vivid green tree canopies and friendly Midwestern towns.

Photo © Jordan Hart

Ohio's Great Miami River Trail

Posted 06/01/14 by Laura Stark in America's Trails | Tagged with Connected Systems, Ohio, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month

For those whose hearts call out for adventure as the summer begins in earnest, the fully paved, sinuous Great Miami River Trail irresistibly beckons. Nestled within western Ohio's Miami Valley, the 86-mile trail winds through woodsy parks beneath the soft rustle of tall, broad-leafed trees, quietly glides into the rich green and gold hues of farm country, and resonates with all the vibrancy and excitement of Dayton at its center.

Photo © Sheboygan County Planning and Conservation Department

Wisconsin's Shoreland 400 Rail Trail

Posted 05/01/14 by Laura Stark in America's Trails | Tagged with Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month, Wisconsin

Sheboygan County is rural, small-town America—no doubt about it. This is Wisconsin dairyland, situated halfway between Milwaukee and Green Bay, where the county seat is the Bratwurst Capital of the World. It's not the type of place that one would expect a thriving walking and biking culture, which made it the perfect candidate for a grand, national experiment that began in 2005. And in Sheboygan, the county's largest city, the Shoreland 400 Rail Trail was a little trail designed to have a big impact on changing modes and minds on transportation.

Photo © Christopher Martin/Atlanta Beltline Inc.

Georgia's Atlanta Beltline

Posted 03/01/14 by Laura Stark in America's Trails | Tagged with Georgia, Rail-with-Trail, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month

Spring is upon us, and perhaps no region is more thankful than the South, hit especially hard by an unusually brutal winter. Residents of The Big Peach are more than ready to head out on the Atlanta Beltline to soak up the warmer weather. In a city once known as Terminus, the BeltLine trail network is a re-envisioning of its railroad past for a new wave of pedestrian and bike-friendly urban design.