TrailBlog Page 3

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.

Graphic by RTC, photo courtesy Missouri Rock Island Trail Inc.

The Rock Island Trail Is a 144-Mile Would Be Game-Changer for Missouri

Posted 12/17/19 by Cindy Barks in Taking Action, Building Trails | Tagged with Corridors and Railbanking, Missouri, Rock Island, RTC in Action, Tourism and Economic Development, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations

All along a 144-mile stretch of Missouri’s old Rock Island Line, rural communities formerly known as railroad towns have been looking forward to a new possibility: a multiuse trail that would revitalize the long-unused train tracks.

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.

California's El Dorado Trail | Photo by Jackie Neau

#OptOutside 2019: The Perfect Photo Opp

Posted 12/04/19 by Suzanne Matyas in Trail Use | Tagged with Encouraging Trail Use, Health and Active Living

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) is pleased to join our friends at REI each year in encouraging people to #OptOutside on Black Friday and spend more time outdoors every day. Because we know there’s no better way to spend time outdoors than on the trail, we invited you to join us outside on Friday, Nov. 29, on one of your favorites and share the moment! Thank you to the millions who opted outside—and to all of you who helped inspire them by sharing your trail outings on social media.

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.

Bicyclists gathered outside of the Richmond BART Station on Nov. 16, 2019, to ride together to the opening of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge bike and pedestrian path | Photo courtesy Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

New Transbay Crossing: Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Bike and Pedestrian Path Opens in California

Posted 11/18/19 by Ben Kaufman, Mary Elise Conzelmann in Building Trails | Tagged with BATC, Bike Commuting, Biking, California, Connected Systems, TrailNation, Transportation and Health, Walkability and Bikeability

On Nov. 16, 2019, the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge bicycle and pedestrian path—a new 6-mile trail that parallels I-580 in the San Francisco Bay Area, officially opened to the public in a special ribbon cutting ceremony. The opening of the new pathway—a fully protected east–west pedestrian and bicycle connection across the Bay—signifies an exciting time in California trail history, as people can now safely walk and bike between the North and East Bay for the first time.