Demand for Trails

Commuting Across and Exploring the Bay Area Will Become More Accessible to Millions of Residents Via 2,590 Miles of Connected Trails

Posted 01/12/22 by Heather Irish in America's Trails | Tagged with BATC, California, Connected Systems, Demand for Trails, Ecology and Environment, Facts and FIgures, TrailNation

California Coastal Trail | Photo by TrailLink user davidgordon144

This vision is becoming a reality with nearly 60% of the 2,590-mile Bay Area regional trail network complete. Leading the charge is the Bay Area Trails Collaborative, a group of more than 50 businesses, agencies and organizations that is chaired by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC).

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California Coastal Trail | Photo by TrailLink user davidgordon144

Commuting Across and Exploring the Bay Area Will Become More Accessible to Millions of Residents Via 2,590 Miles of Connected Trails

Posted 01/12/22 by Heather Irish in America's Trails | Tagged with BATC, California, Connected Systems, Demand for Trails, Ecology and Environment, Facts and FIgures, TrailNation

This vision is becoming a reality with nearly 60% of the 2,590-mile Bay Area regional trail network complete. Leading the charge is the Bay Area Trails Collaborative, a group of more than 50 businesses, agencies and organizations that is chaired by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC).

Fortress Bikes interior | Courtesy Hal Simon

Trail Moments | Letting the Good (and Bad) Times Roll: New York Bike Shop Opens in the Midst of a Covid World

Posted 01/03/22 by Laura Stark in America's Trails | Tagged with Biking, COVID-19, Demand for Trails, Tourism and Economic Development, Trail Businesses, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations, Trail Moments

Simon’s bike rental shop, a first for the town, is situated on Hurleyville’s Main Street, just steps from the rail-trail. “It’s 7 miles of beautiful, flat pavement,” he said. “You’ll see bodies of water, farmland and forest. And the colors are gorgeous in the fall—you have foliage, history and wildlife.”

As part of the conference program, longtime West Virginia trail advocates Peggy Pings, Ella Belling and Amanda Pitzer celebrate Ella’s recognition as a leader of trail advocacy on the Mon River Rail-Trail System in Morgantown. | Photo courtesy Amanda Pitzer

Inaugural WV TRAIL Conference Energizes Mass Effort for Statewide Trails Movement

Posted 11/23/21 by Kelly Pack in America's Trails | Tagged with Connected Systems, Demand for Trails, IHTC, TrailNation, West Virginia

Exciting happenings in West Virginia last week—as local and national trail advocates gathered virtually for the inaugural WV TRAIL Conference, Nov. 16–18, 2021. Hosted by WV TRAIL, the National Park Service – Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program (RTCA), Friends of the Cheat (FOC) and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC), the conference brought together more than 250 people with the goal of building a broad network of trail planners, managers and advocates from across the Mountain State

Met Branch Trail | Photo by India Kea

Reimagining Public Spaces

Posted 10/12/21 by Ryan Chao in America's Trails | Tagged with COVID-19, Demand for Trails, Featured Magazine Articles, Health and Active Living, Mode Shift, Route of the Badger, Trail Moments, TrailNation, Walkability and Bikeability, Why Use Trails?

Last year, when the team at Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) was elbow deep in defining the elements of our next strategic plan, a global pandemic had upended the world, and calls for justice were bringing focus to the deep and far-reaching impact of racial inequities. In that moment, we explored the strengths of our movement, our role in bringing solutions to these significant social challenges and the opportunities ahead. What we found captured our imagination and brought reason for hope.

Photo by Lisa Watts, graphic by RTC

Trail Moments | The Great Bike Shortage? For Me, It Was the Great Bike Summer!

Posted 09/02/21 by Silvia Ascarelli in America's Trails | Tagged with COVID-19, Demand for Trails, Encouraging Trail Use, Health and Active Living, Schools and Young People, Trail Moments, Trail Use Tips, Walkability and Bikeability, Why Use Trails?

In late May 2020, during the early days of the COVID-induced Great Bike Shortage, I stood in line with a neighbor to buy a used bike. Her first bike. My neighbor Shahreen is in her late 30s and didn’t know how to ride a bike, so she asked me to teach her. And so began my Great Bike Summer.

Tokul Trestle on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail | Photo by Eli Brownell, courtesy King County Parks

Washington’s Snoqualmie Valley Trail

Posted 08/09/21 by Agueda Pacheco Flores in America's Trails | Tagged with Best Of, Demand for Trails, Great American Rail-Trail, Local Organizing, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month, Walkability and Bikeability, Washington

To experience the best of what the Pacific Northwest has to offer, head to the Snoqualmie Valley Trail (SVT). It’s more than a state gem—the trail comes to represent a historical and cultural backbone of western Washington.

Indianapolis Cultural Trail | Photo by Indiana Cultural Trail, Inc.

Despite Earlier Fears, the State of State Trail Funding Looks Strong

Posted 08/04/21 by Andrew Dupuy, Brian K. Housh in Policy | Tagged with COVID-19, Demand for Trails, Funding, State and Federal Programs

As of the summer of 2021, the state of trails in the states is much stronger than we anticipated. In the summer of 2020—RTC successfully fought an attempt by some Pennsylvania legislators to raid a state outdoor recreation fund that supports trails. Expected similar assaults elsewhere never materialized.

42nd Street Slow Street in Oakland, California | Photo by Ben Kaufman

What’s Ahead for the Movement to Create Safe Outdoor Space in Every Neighborhood

Posted 08/02/21 by Christina Sturdivant Sani in America's Trails | Tagged with Demand for Trails, Encouraging Trail Use, Mode Shift, Success Stories, Trail Communities, Walkability and Bikeability

An analysis of 31 trail counters for the week of March 16–22 found a nationwide trail usage increase of nearly 200% from that same week in 2019. It was clear that the demand for safe spaces to be active outside was far exceeding supply. The organization used this data as the driver for a petition that advocated for cities and towns to close streets to vehicle traffic (which had dropped substantially due to mandatory lockdowns), creating more places for people to walk, bike and roll at a safe distance from one another. In the transportation world, this is known as the Open Streets movement.

Three Rivers Greenway | Photo by Robert Annis

South Carolina’s Three Rivers Greenway

Posted 07/08/21 by Robert Annis in America's Trails | Tagged with Best Of, Connected Systems, Demand for Trails, South Carolina, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month

While pedaling the completed 19.4 miles of South Carolina’s Three Rivers Greenway, the word “potential” keeps popping up in my mind. The greenway follows the Broad, Saluda and Congaree Rivers, and everywhere I look, people are swimming, floating and otherwise having a good time.

Lanie Fleischer Chester Creek Trail | Courtesy Erin Kirkland

Alaska’s Lanie Fleischer Chester Creek Trail

Posted 05/13/21 by Christina Sturdivant Sani in America's Trails | Tagged with Alaska, Best Of, Connected Systems, Demand for Trails, Local Organizing, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month, Walkability and Bikeability, Wild and Wonderful, Winter Uses

The Lanie Fleischer Chester Creek Trail is a beautiful oasis in the middle of Anchorage, Alaska. Running east to west from Goose Lake Park to Westchester Lagoon, the greenbelt boasts scenic views of the Chugach Mountains. “You would never know you’re going through an industrial area,” said Beth Nordlund, the executive director of the Anchorage Park Foundation.