Trail Blog by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

Kentucky’s Dawkins Line Rail Trail

Posted 05/13/22 by Austyn Gaffney in America's Trails | Tagged with Best Of, Federal, Kentucky, Tourism and Economic Development, Trail Businesses, Trail Communities, Trail of the Month

The Dawkins Line Rail Trail is Kentucky’s longest rail-trail. The 36-mile crushed-stone path is now open to bicyclists, hikers and horseback riders; a short, paved portion is also available in Royalton. The trail takes visitors on a journey back in time as they wind through the bright green Appalachian forests of Breathitt, Johnson and Magoffin counties.

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Kentucky’s Dawkins Line Rail Trail

Posted 05/13/22 by Austyn Gaffney in America's Trails | Tagged with Best Of, Federal, Kentucky, Tourism and Economic Development, Trail Businesses, Trail Communities, Trail of the Month

The Dawkins Line Rail Trail is Kentucky’s longest rail-trail. The 36-mile crushed-stone path is now open to bicyclists, hikers and horseback riders; a short, paved portion is also available in Royalton. The trail takes visitors on a journey back in time as they wind through the bright green Appalachian forests of Breathitt, Johnson and Magoffin counties.

California’s Napa Valley Vine Trail

Posted 04/12/22 by Amy Grisak in America's Trails | Tagged with Art, BATC, Bike Commuting, California, Connected Systems, Cross-Sector Collaboration, Demand for Trails, Health and Active Living, Local Organizing, Mode Shift, Tourism , Tourism and Economic Development, Trail Businesses, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month, TrailNation, Walkability and Bikeability, Why Use Trails?

It’s remarkable how a single trail brings together an entire region. As California’s Napa Valley Vine Trail grows to reach its ultimate 47-mile potential, community members and visitors realize the beauty of connectivity and accessibility.

Maine’s Eastern Trail

Posted 03/15/22 by Cindy Barks in America's Trails | Tagged with Best Of, Maine, Tourism and Economic Development, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month

Bob Hamblen takes to the Eastern Trail on his bike, riding through various sections of the route that traverses 28 miles of southern Maine’s spectacular coastline. While he sees it as “a win” wherever he ends up on the trail, the long-time Saco resident has his favorites.

Traveling by trail | Courtesy Rachel and Patrick Hugens

Trail Moments | A Tale of a Tour: Traveling by Trail in Wisconsin

Posted 02/25/22 by Rachel and Patrick Hugens in America's Trails, Trail Use | Tagged with Route of the Badger, Tourism , Trail Destinations, Trail Moments, TrailNation, Why Use Trails?, Wisconsin

What we like about cycle touring is the experience of meeting people. Traveling by bike allows you see snapshots of people’s daily lives and interact with them. As a fellow traveler told us once, “Traveling lets you see a thousand lives you might have lived.”

Indiana’s Big 4 Trail

Posted 01/11/22 by Agueda Pacheco Flores in America's Trails | Tagged with Best Of, Connected Systems, Indiana, Tourism , Tourism and Economic Development, Trail Businesses, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month

Surrounded by tree canopies, beautiful countryside and the charm of small towns, the Big 4 Trail traverses a Midwestern wonderland. The developing rail-trail serves as an important regional connector—spreading diagonally across Boone County, crossing into Clinton County and, eventually, continuing into Tippecanoe County.

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.”

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

Breaking News: The Rock Island Trail Is a 144-Mile On track to Be Game-Changer for Missouri

Posted 12/14/21 by Cindy Barks in Taking Action, Building Trails, Success Stories, America's Trails | Tagged with Corridors and Railbanking, Missouri, Rock Island, RTC in Action, Tourism and Economic Development, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations

Governor Mike Parson and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources announced that they have officially railbanked the 144-mile Rock Island Railroad corridor between Windsor and Beaufort, Missouri. The governor’s announcement comes after decades of advocacy and negotiations, marking the final step in railbanking the corridor, which is now destined to be preserved—and enjoyed—as a trail.

Sheet music image | Courtesy University of Colorado, Music Library

Taters and Trains: The Great Big Baked Potato and the Northern Pacific Line

Posted 11/10/21 by Scott Stark in America's Trails | Tagged with Featured Magazine Articles, Great American Rail-Trail, History Happened Here, Tourism

The year was 1908; Hazen Titus was the new superintendent of dining cars for the now-defunct Northern Pacific (NP) Railway when he overheard a conversation between two passengers that would result in the NP’s dining cars catapulting ahead of the competition and cementing the railway in the public’s imagination.

Georgia's Silver Comet Trail | Photo by Seth Holladay

The Build Back Better Act Could Create New Opportunities for Trail and Active Transportation Funding

Posted 11/06/21 by Patrick Wojahn in Policy | Tagged with Ecology and Environment, Equity, Federal, Funding, Mode Shift, Tourism and Economic Development, Tourism and Economic Stimulus, TrailsTransform

Assuming the Build Back Better Act moves through the Senate without any additional changes, the current language includes programs that address critical transportation and infrastructure issues, such as economic development, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and equity.

Part of the developing Louisiana Bootlace Trail Network, New Orleans’ Wisner Trail is nestled between two popular recreational amenities: City Park and Bayou St. John. Photo by Jennifer Ruley, courtesy City of New Orleans.

Close Ties: Louisiana Bootlace Trail Network

Posted 10/26/21 by Chez Chesak in America's Trails | Tagged with Connected Systems, Featured Magazine Articles, Funding, Hall of Fame, Louisiana, Tourism , Trail Destinations

Trail advocates in Louisiana are coming together with a vision to create a 100-miles-plus trail network loop that will lace together a dozen parishes on a route connecting Baton Rouge and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Perry's depot along the Raccoon River Valley Trail | Courtesy Raccoon River Valley Trail Association

Iowa’s Raccoon River Valley Trail

Posted 09/10/21 by Laura Stark in America's Trails | Tagged with Best Of, Connected Systems, Great American Rail-Trail, Hall of Fame, Iowa, Tourism , Tourism and Economic Development, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month, Walkability and Bikeability

In pastoral west-central Iowa, the Raccoon River Valley Trail has won this year’s blue-ribbon prize: entrance into the Rail-Trail Hall of Fame. The 89-mile pathway garnered some 16,000 votes in the national competition—a figure larger than the population of most of the small towns along its route, several home to fewer than 300 people.

The Elwha River Bridge in Port Angeles along the Olympic Discovery Trail has two decks—one for vehicles and one (below it) for pedestrians and bicyclists. | Photo by John Gussman

Connections of Land, Sea and Sky: Olympic Discovery Trail

Posted 09/07/21 by Cory Matteson in America's Trails | Tagged with Featured Magazine Articles, Great American Rail-Trail, People with Disabilities, Tourism , Trail Businesses, Trail Destinations, Washington

Eventually stretching from Puget Sound to the Pacific Ocean, the Olympic Discovery Trail (ODT) is a showcase of some of the most renowned cultural and natural assets on the North Olympic Peninsula.

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