Trail Use Page 13

Photo © of Iron Horse Endurance Runs

Endurance Run on Florida Rail-Trail Tests the World’s Best

Posted 01/26/14 by Chris Rodatz in Trail Use | Tagged with Community Events, Florida

For the past six years, the Lake Butler-to-Palatka Trail has played host to the Iron Horse Endurance Race, an ultramarathon that spans 100 miles (with 100-km and 50-mile options) from Florahome to Palatka. On Feb. 15, 2014, 150 runners from the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, Germany and Mexico will “toe the line” in this test of iron wills. Here’s a brief glimpse of last year’s Feb. 9 event, courtesy of Race Director Chris Rodatz.

Photo © East Coast Greenway Alliance

A Few Hundred Strong, African-American Community Aims to Become Florida's Next Trail Town

Posted 01/08/14 by Herb Hiller in Success Stories, Trail Use | Tagged with Art, Florida, Signage and Amenities, Tourism and Economic Stimulus

There is an experience that is unique to the people driving cars along State Road 207 in Florida. Only they can make the sharp, abrupt drop into Armstrong - a settlement where moms walk babies and folks chat along the narrow town road that abruptly ends in woods. From the high-speed, four-lane highway to the serene woods the drivers go ...plop! It's a strange juxtaposition.

Photo © Virginia Bicycling Federation

Historic Moment for Great Allegheny Passage as Amtrak Tests Roll-On Bike Service

Posted 10/18/13 by Jake Lynch in Trail Use | Tagged with Pennsylvania, Rail-with-Trail

Rail and trail is a match made in heaven. All over the world there are great examples of rail operators and trail users working together for mutual benefit. Sometimes that involves trails connecting with light rail stops, or it could be a train carrying riders back to the trailhead so they can enjoy a one-way ride.

Photo © www.facebook.com/MEPRD

Two Minutes With Mike Buehlhorn - Executive Director of MEPRD

Posted 10/11/13 by Mike Buehlhorn in Building Trails, Trail Use | Tagged with Encouraging Trail Use, Illinois, Trail Communities

With lots of attention being paid these days to how trail systems encourage healthy communities, there is a lot of buzz around Madison and St. Clair counties in Illinois' St. Louis Metro Area. The reason for the buzz? The Metro East Park and Recreation District (MEPRD), which since 2000 has helped build hundreds of miles of dedicated bike facilities and sparked a surge in active transportation. Keen to learn how they do it, RTC grabbed a couple of minutes with its executive director, Mike Buehlhorn.

Photo © Trails for Illinois

How To Sell 200,000 Ice-Cream Cones: In Illinois, Hard Data Makes the Case for Trail Building

Posted 10/10/13 by Eric Oberg in Building Trails, Trail Use | Tagged with Case Studies, Facts and FIgures, Illinois, Tourism and Economic Stimulus

The publication of "Making Trails Count" - a count and study of trail user numbers and spending patterns on six trails across Illinois - is now arming trail planners and advocates state wide with the hard data they need to make the case for why trail building means good things for communities and economies.

Sundial Bridge | Photo by Beth Young, CC by 2.0

The Road to a Thousand Wonders

Posted 09/12/13 by Bryan Goebel in Trail Use, America's Trails | Tagged with California, Connected Systems, Demand for Trails, Featured Magazine Articles, Health and Active Living

The astonishing Sundial Bridge peeks out from a tall canopy of cottonwood trees as I approach Redding, Calif., on Highway 44. It looks like an enormous white harp or an egret. Designed by Spanish architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava, the eight-year-old bridge radiates over the lush green landscape, linking both sides of the Upper Sacramento River where it makes a wide turn at Turtle Bay.