Trail Blog by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

Photo © Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel

Welcome to Stroller Rollers on the Rail-Trail

Posted 04/17/12 by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in Health and Wellness, Trail Use | Tagged with Community Events, Encouraging Trail Use, Health and Active Living, Maine

No, it's not rush hour outside the local day care center--it's Stroller Rollers, a fitness class for new moms.

New Rail-Trail at Heart of Delaware's Push for Walk- and Bike-ability

Posted 04/14/12 by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in Building Trails, Trail Use | Tagged with Delaware, State and Federal Programs, Statements of Support, Walkability and Bikeability

"There is a perception that (trails) are nice amenities from a recreational standpoint, but with $4-a-gallon gas I have seen a lot of people out there biking and making an economic choice," Shailen Bhatt, secretary of the Delaware Department of Transportation, told Delaware Online this week.

South Carolina Company Builds Trail for Employees

Posted 04/13/12 by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in Building Trails, Health and Wellness | Tagged with Health and Active Living, Private Fundraising, South Carolina

Just ask the South Carolina-based company ACS Technologies, which this week opened a half-mile walking trail, built and paid for by the company, through their 14-acre Florence campus.

Report on Bike/Ped Pilot Handed to Congress

Posted 04/12/12 by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in Policy, Trail Use | Tagged with Case Studies, Facts and FIgures, Products of Good Policy, RTC in Action, State and Federal Programs, Statements of Support

Word just came in from the Department of Transportation that the U.S. Congress will later today receive the much-anticipated report detailing the measureable impacts of the Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program (NTPP).

Connecticut Finally Celebrates the Little Bridge That Could

Posted 04/12/12 by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in Building Trails, Success Stories | Tagged with Champions, Connecticut

Peter Marteka, the hiking and outdoor recreation columnist for the Hartford Courant in central Connecticut, wrote earlier this month about the newly built Andover covered bridge. Marteka is certainly not the only person to have wondered from time to time whether the much-anticipated bridge over what has come to be known as the 'Andover Gap' along the Hop River State Park Trail would ever be complete.

The Fight to Save Pennsylvania's Popular Trails Fund

Posted 04/10/12 by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in Policy, Taking Action | Tagged with Pennsylvania, Products of Good Policy, State and Federal Programs, Threats to Trail Building

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) is this week mobilizing its thousands of members and supporters in Pennsylvania in defense of the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund--a immensely popular and successful program that has supported trails and open space creation in that state for the past 19 years.

RTC's Urban Trails Work a Key Moment in Public Health Shift

Posted 04/09/12 by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in Health and Wellness, Trail Use | Tagged with Encouraging Trail Use, Equity, Health and Active Living, RTC in Action, Urban Pathways

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) is continuing its growing involvement in combating some of America's most pressing public health issues.

Photo of North Central State Trail © TrailLink.com/David Yates

Michigan Reaps the Dividend of Growing Rail-Trail Network

Posted 04/06/12 by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in America's Trails, Success Stories | Tagged with Case Studies, Champions, Facts and FIgures, Michigan, Tourism and Economic Stimulus

At Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's (RTC) 25th Anniversary celebration last year, we recognized the trail-blazing achievements of Carolyn Kane and the late Fred Meijer, two Michiganders who during the past few decades have made a remarkable contribution to the development of America's rail-trail network.

Photo CC Redbeard Math Pirate via Flickr

Train Trestle From Famous Film Soon to Welcome Hikers and Bikers

Posted 04/05/12 by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in Building Trails | Tagged with California, Corridors and Railbanking, Local Organizing

Now, Americans of all ages will be able to reenact that famous scene in Stand by Me in a much more leisurely (and safe) fashion, with the announcement last week that an agreement has been struck to purchase the out-of-service section of rail corridor in northeast California and convert it into a rail-trail.

Boom in Biking Benefits Everyone, Not Just Cyclists

Posted 04/03/12 by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in Policy | Tagged with Case Studies, Facts and FIgures, State and Federal Programs, Statements of Support, Tourism and Economic Stimulus

As the U.S. Congress debates the next federal transportation bill, we're always excited to see the evidence keep mounting in support of the value of trails, walking and bicycling in communities of every size.

Photo of phase one section of the Brighton East Rail Trail © Lexington Fayette Urban County

Lexington, Ky., Pushing to Extend and Connect Local Rail-Trail Network

Posted 04/03/12 by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in Building Trails | Tagged with Connected Systems, Kentucky, State and Federal Programs, Walkability and Bikeability

The people of Lexington, Ky., are pushing ahead with plans to develop an impressive biking and walking network built around a number of urban and rural rail-trails.

Made in Michigan

Posted 04/03/12 by in America's Trails, Trail Use | Tagged with Facts and FIgures, Michigan, State and Federal Programs, Trail Communities

In May 2008, I traveled to Michigan to explore the 62-mile North Central State Trail, which runs from Gaylord to Mackinaw City at the tip of the Lower Peninsula. I'd timed my visit for the trail's official opening that spring, and I spent several days enjoying the region's incredible natural backdrop.

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