Health and Wellness

A Grand Slam: 2019 Opening Day for Trails

Posted 04/16/19 by Suzanne Matyas in America's Trails, Trail Use, Health and Wellness | Tagged with Repairs and Trail Safety, Baltimore Greenway Trails Coalition, BATC, California, Capital Trails Coalition, Circuit Trails, Community Events, Demand for Trails, Encouraging Trail Use, Health and Active Living, Healthy Aging, IHTC, Local Organizing, New Jersey, Ohio, OpeningDay, Pennsylvania, Route of the Badger, RTC in Action, Tourism , Tourism and Economic Development, Trail Businesses, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations, Trail Use Tips, TrailNation, Walkability and Bikeability, Wisconsin, Young Champions

Photo by Eva Garcia

On Saturday, April 13, people across the country kicked off the spring trail season on Opening Day for Trails (Opening Day). For the last seven years, Opening Day has brought trail newbies and long-timers together to say goodbye to winter and get outside on America’s spectacular trails and trails systems.

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Photo courtesy iStock by Getty Images

Step to it: Seven Ways to Spice Up Your Walks

Posted 03/13/19 by Suzanne Matyas in America's Trails, Health and Wellness | Tagged with Encouraging Trail Use, How-to, Trail Use Tips, Walkability and Bikeability, Why Use Trails?

It’s enjoyable. It’s a form of eco-friendly transportation. It’s exercise (and even an Olympic sport). It’s inexpensive—awesome entertainment. And it’s an unparalleled way to experience a place and to connect with your community. It’s walking.

Fun run 5k on W&OD Trail in Arlington, VA | Photo courtesy Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

Here Are 13 Ways to Celebrate Opening Day for Trails on April 13

Posted 02/14/19 by Amy Kapp in America's Trails, Trail Use, Health and Wellness | Tagged with Best Of, Community Events, Encouraging Trail Use, Health and Active Living, Healthy Aging, OpeningDay, Trail Destinations, Walkability and Bikeability

This year’s Opening Day for Trails is going to be one of the best yet, as people across the country officially kick off spring by hitting their favorite pathways (or new ones!). Below are just 13 ways you can celebrate Opening Day in your own neighborhood and beyond.

Baltimore, Maryland | Photo by Side A Photography

Protecting Trails in 2018: Five Ways We Mobilized in Communities This Year

Posted 11/15/18 by Amy Kapp, Brandi Horton in America's Trails, Building Trails, Policy, Taking Action, Success Stories, Health and Wellness | Tagged with Baltimore Greenway Trails Coalition, BATC, Best Of, Case Studies, Community Events, Corridors and Railbanking, Demand for Trails, Disparities and Underserved Communities, Federal, Funding, Health and Active Living, IHTC, Legal Issues, Local Organizing, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rock Island, Route of the Badger, RTC in Action, State and Federal Programs, Success Stories, Tourism , Tourism and Economic Development, Tourism and Economic Stimulus, Trail Businesses, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations, TrailNation, TrailsTransform, Transportation and Health, Urban Pathways, Walkability and Bikeability, Washington, Wisconsin

All across the country—from the great redwoods of California, to the trestles of Missouri, to the stream valleys and neighborhoods of Baltimore, Maryland—Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) and the national trail community put itself on the front lines to protect and defend trails in 2018. Here are five ways we mobilized in communities this year.

San Antonio Riverwalk | Photo courtesy Getty Images

Where Will You #OptOutside on Nov. 23? (Here Are 8 Trails for the Bucket List!)

Posted 11/09/18 by Amy Kapp in America's Trails, Trail Use, Health and Wellness | Tagged with Alaska, Best Of, California, Encouraging Trail Use, Health and Active Living, Healthy Aging, Heritage and Restoration, History Happened Here, Kentucky, Ohio, OpeningDay, Texas, Tourism , Tourism and Economic Development, Tourism and Economic Stimulus, Trail Businesses, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations, Trail Use Tips, Urban Pathways, Virginia, Walkability and Bikeability, Winter Uses

Here are some of our favorite trails to help you #OptOutside on the day after Turkey Day, Nov. 23—straight from our staff and other trail users around the country. For lots more, check out RTC’s free trail-finder website, TrailLink.com, which maps more than 34,000 miles of multiuse trails!

Prescribe-a-Trail walkers at Valley Forge National Historical Park | Photo by Roy Perry

Prescribe-a-Trail: Walking to Happier and Healthier Lifestyles in Greater Philly

Posted 11/07/18 by Molly Duffy in Health and Wellness, Trail Use, America's Trails | Tagged with Circuit Trails, Community Events, Encouraging Trail Use, Featured Magazine Articles, Health and Active Living, Health Organizations, Healthy Aging, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, TrailNation, Transportation and Health, Walkability and Bikeability

Since 2015, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy has been connecting hundreds of walkers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to healthier lifestyles through Prescribe-a-Trail (PAT), a program in which Philadelphia-area hospitals and health-care organizations lead outings on local trails along the Circuit Trails network (an RTC TrailNation™ project) to promote exercise, good nutrition and healthy lifestyles.

Trail crossing over the White River along the Cardinal Greenway near the McCulloch Riverview Trailhead in Muncie, Indiana | Photo by Tony Valainis

Indiana’s Cardinal Greenway

Posted 09/06/18 by Robert Annis in America's Trails, Health and Wellness | Tagged with Best Of, Encouraging Trail Use, Facts and FIgures, Featured Magazine Articles, Health and Active Living, Heritage and Restoration, History Happened Here, Indiana, Tourism , Tourism and Economic Development, Tourism and Economic Stimulus, Trail Businesses, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month, Trail Use Tips, Walkability and Bikeability

Decades ago, a disused railroad line found new life, becoming the Cardinal Greenway, Indiana’s longest rail-trail. But with some ambitious new projects planned, the newest member of the Rail-Trail Hall of Fame—which is also celebrating its 25th anniversary as a trail in 2018—is about to experience yet another rebirth.

Maryland's WB&A Trail | Photo by Glenn Gunter

Maryland's WB&A Trail

Posted 06/13/18 by Laura Stark in America's Trails, Health and Wellness, Trail Use | Tagged with Best Of, Capital Trails Coalition, Connected Systems, District Of Columbia, Encouraging Trail Use, Federal, Funding, Local Organizing, Maryland, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month, TrailNation, Walkability and Bikeability

The stars seem aligned for Maryland’s WB&A Trail, a straightforward, 13-mile pathway—beautiful in its simplicity and surroundings—that is rapidly becoming a key connector in a growing movement to improve walking and biking options in the Mid-Atlantic region. Linking Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Annapolis by a continuous, safe and scenic trail system is not just a pipe dream—it’s actually happening, and the WB&A Trail has an important place in that vision.

Opening Day for Trails celebration on the W&OD Trail | Photo by Joe LaCroix, courtesy RTC

A Home Run: 2018 Opening Day for Trails

Posted 05/03/18 by Suzanne Matyas in America's Trails, Health and Wellness | Tagged with Baltimore Greenway Trails Coalition, BATC, Capital Trails Coalition, Circuit Trails, Encouraging Trail Use, Health and Active Living, Healthy Aging, IHTC, Local Organizing, LowerRioGrande, Maintenance and Volunteers, OpeningDay, RTC in Action, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations, Trail Use Tips, Transportation and Health, Urban Pathways, Walkability and Bikeability, Why Use Trails?

This year, thousands of people from coast to coast went outside to celebrate the sixth annual Opening Day for Trails (Opening Day). Although the country was a mix of sunshine and snow, trail users came on foot, wheel, hoof, ski and everything in between to kick off the spring season on their local trails. Thanks to everyone who joined us in showing their love for America’s magnificent trails by celebrating Opening Day. And a big thank you to our magnanimous sponsors at Performance Bicycle, Fuji Bikes, KEEN, Topo Designs and Patagonia for making the day extra special by providing some great prizes.

A cyclist enjoying the view of the Josiah White II canal boat while riding along the D&L Trail. | Photo courtesy Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor

2018 Pennsylvania Sojourn Spotlight: A Journey Along the D&L Trail

Posted 04/23/18 by Elissa Garofalo in America's Trails, Health and Wellness | Tagged with Connected Systems, Health and Active Living, Healthy Aging, History Happened Here, Maintenance and Volunteers, Pennsylvania, Sojourn Series, Tourism , Tourism and Economic Development, Tourism and Economic Stimulus, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations, Walkability and Bikeability

The D&L Trail that connects residents and visitors to this amazing story as well as the health, economic, environmental and cultural attributes along its path. The D&L Trail and organization are managed by a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that coordinates the collective efforts of public, private and volunteer stakeholders who celebrate and preserve the pathway.

2017 Opening Day for Trails on the Three Rivers Heritage Trail in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Photo by Amy Kapp

Useful Biking Gear for Trails—Plus A Few MacGyver Tips!

Posted 03/30/18 by Amy Kapp in America's Trails, Trail Use, Health and Wellness | Tagged with Biking, Encouraging Trail Use, Gear, Health and Active Living, Healthy Aging, How-to, Mapping and Technology, OpeningDay, Sojourn Series, Trail Etiquette, Trail Use Tips, Walkability and Bikeability, Why Use Trails?

To prepare for Opening Day for Trails, I asked my colleagues at Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, some of America’s most experienced trail riders, what equipment they’ve found super useful.

Photo by Justin Smith

Seven Reasons You Should Go on a Trail Adventure

Posted 03/08/18 by Suzanne Matyas in America's Trails, Trail Use, Health and Wellness | Tagged with Biking, Encouraging Trail Use, Health and Active Living, Pennsylvania, Sojourn Series, Trail Destinations, Walkability and Bikeability, Wild and Wonderful

Do you favor seaside escapes over sleeping under the stars? Would you prefer a trip with the entire family or a solo expedition to find yourself? How about a relaxing retreat instead of rollercoasters? RTC's Sojourn might be perfect for you!