America's Trails

Illinois’ MCT Goshen Trail

Posted 01/13/20 by Laura Stark in America's Trails | Tagged with Best Of, Connected Systems, Corridors and Railbanking, Demand for Trails, Illinois, Tourism , Tourism and Economic Development, Tourism and Economic Stimulus, Trail Businesses, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month

MCT Goshen Trail | Photo courtesy Metro East Park & Recreation District

Madison County Transit—the “MCT” part of the trail name—owns and manages nearly 140 miles of trails, which connect more than 20 communities and allow residents to get virtually anywhere within the county. With a newly opened extension of the MCT Goshen Trail, travelers can now also access neighboring St. Clair County by trail for the first time. Providing even more transit options for locals, many of St. Clair County’s trails are being developed to intertwine with MetroLink, the region’s light rail system.

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Oregon's Springwater Corridor | Photo by TrailLink user dabiker

7 Top Trail Picks From Trail Lovers Like You on TrailLink!

Posted 12/31/19 by Laura Stark in America's Trails, Trail Use | Tagged with Alabama, Best Of, Great American Rail-Trail, Hall of Fame, Idaho, Michigan, New Hampshire, Oregon, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations, Vermont

We have some inspiring rail-trails to keep you motivated throughout 2020! These bucket-list destinations come from some of the top submitters of trail photos on TrailLink.com, which currently lists more than 4,000 multiuse trails across America.

Connectivity Evolution: Examining a Decade of Rails-to-Trails’ Impact, 2010–2020

Posted 12/31/19 by Amy Kapp in America's Trails, Success Stories, Policy, Building Trails | Tagged with Baltimore Greenway Trails Coalition, BATC, Capital Trails Coalition, Caracara, Circuit Trails, Connected Systems, Demand for Trails, Great American Rail-Trail, History Happened Here, IHTC, Miami LOOP, Route of the Badger, RTC in Action, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations, TrailNation, TrailsTransform, Walkability and Bikeability, Why Use Trails?

Here’s a look at RTC and a decade of rail-trails—their power and their impact. As the 2010s built momentum, opportunities to maximize the power of these essential community assets became clear, and a new focus took hold at RTC and across the movement: that of regional connectivity and, ultimately, connecting the country by trail like never before. Check out RTC's connectivity evolution over the past decade.

The inaugural Great Lake-to-Lake Trail ride along Kal-Haven Trail Sesquicentennial State Park | Photo by Jeff Green, TrailLink user jeffinbville

A View From … Michigan’s Great Lake-to-Lake Trail

Posted 12/20/19 by Laura Stark in America's Trails | Tagged with Best Of, Connected Systems, Featured Magazine Articles, Michigan, Trail Destinations

It’s no secret that Michigan is a great trail state, hosting more than 2,400 miles of rail-trails, and exciting developing trail network projects like the Great Lake-to-Lake Trails, which is building momentum.

Encinitas Coastal Rail Trail | Photo courtesy San Diego Association of Governments

Greet the New Rail-Trails of 2019

Posted 12/16/19 by Laura Stark in America's Trails | Tagged with Best Of, California, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, Walkability and Bikeability, Wisconsin

Today, more than 24,000 miles of completed rail-trails traverse the nation, often serving as backbones for regional trail systems that are transforming the places where we live, work and play. Here are just a few of the exciting new rail-trails added to the ranks in 2019.

Graphic courtesy RTC

Ask Me Anything: RTC President Ryan Chao and Midwest Director Eric Oberg Chat Trails, Tourism and Transportation

Posted 12/06/19 by Brandi Horton, Ryan Chao in America's Trails | Tagged with Champions, Route of the Badger, Tourism , Tourism and Economic Development, Tourism and Economic Stimulus, TrailNation, Wisconsin

Through a special live-streamed Ask Me Anything-style conversation, we caught up with Ryan Chao, president of team RTC, and Eric Oberg, director of trail development for the Midwest Regional Office.

Historic Virginia and Truckee Trail | Photo by Jenny Anderson Haas, courtesy Muscle Powered

Historic Virginia and Truckee Trail to Rejuvenate Famous Nevada Rail Corridor

Posted 12/05/19 by Donna Inversin in America's Trails, Building Trails | Tagged with Connected Systems, Funding, Heritage and Restoration, History Happened Here, Nevada, Rail-with-Trail, State and Federal Programs, Trail Communities

The rail corridor’s new life as the Historic Virginia and Truckee Trail will connect five counties, five cities and six museums. Portions of the trail have already been constructed; Carson City, the state capital, has several miles of the V&T on the ground. And bicyclists ride along much of the old route, without even realizing it, through Washoe and Pleasant Valleys in Washoe County.

North Bend Trail into Cairo, West Virginia | Photo by Mike Tewkesbury

West Virginia and Pennsylvania's Parkersburg to Pittsburgh Corridor

Posted 12/05/19 by Laura Stark in America's Trails, Building Trails | Tagged with Featured Magazine Articles, Pennsylvania, West Virginia

The P2P: It’s a small acronym that holds a world of promise. Extending from Parkersburg to Pittsburgh (P2P), the developing 238.5-mile route connecting northern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania by trail would be a game changer for the dozens of small, rural Appalachian towns that have seen the Cinderella story of the highly successful Great Allegheny Passage so close at hand.

Great American Rail-Trail preferred route reveal in South Cle Elum, Washington | Photo by Kathy Young

Seven Ways Rails-to-Trails Conservancy Brought Big Impact in 2019

Posted 12/05/19 by Amy Kapp in Success Stories, America's Trails | Tagged with BATC, Circuit Trails, Great American Rail-Trail, IHTC, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Route of the Badger, RTC in Action, TrailNation, TrailsTransform

This year, America and the rail-trail movement saw giant leaps, and small-but-no-less-important bounds, that have helped to achieve RTC’s goal of connecting the country by trail like never before. From major advancements like the launch of the 3,700-mile Great American Rail-Trail, to critical regional and local successes that have delivered new opportunities for mobility, active transportation and economic investment, the impact is being felt in communities of all shapes and sizes across the United States.

Ashokan Rail Trail opening | Courtesy New York City Department of Environmental Protection

New York’s Ashokan Rail Trail

Posted 12/03/19 by Cory Matteson in America's Trails | Tagged with Best Of, Ecology and Environment, Heritage and Restoration, New York, Trail of the Month

Though the trail opened in autumn, the ART, as it’s colloquially called, offers year-round views. The area abounds with red maples, birch and eastern white pine trees, and features protected wetlands and a 525-foot boardwalk. The Catskill Mountains, once an inspiration to famed Hudson River School artists and conservationists like Thomas Cole and Asher Durand, beckon from the ART.

GHS Swamp Rabbit Trail in South Carolina | Photo by Ian Curcio

A Q&A With Ryan Chao: Connecting Communities from Coast to Coast

Posted 11/13/19 by Brandi Horton, Ryan Chao in America's Trails, Taking Action | Tagged with Baltimore Greenway Trails Coalition, Connected Systems, Great American Rail-Trail, IHTC, RTC in Action, Tourism and Economic Development, TrailsTransform, Transportation and Health, West Virginia

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) is forging ahead with a new focus: to connect critical walking and bicycling infrastructure across the country, and demonstrate the powerful benefits trails and trail networks deliver communities, through projects such as RTC’s TrailNation™ initiative and the Great American Rail-Trail™. Recently, the Trailblog chatted with RTC President Ryan Chao on how the organization is making this work happen in collaboration with thousands of partners across the country.