Wisconsin Page 2

Best of the Midwest: Five Major Trail Developments in America’s Heartland

Posted 11/14/16 by Brian K. Housh in Policy, Building Trails | Tagged with Best Of, Connected Systems, IHTC, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Route of the Badger, State and Federal Programs, Wisconsin

Fallasburg Covered Bridge (Lowell, Michigan) along the North Country Trail/Iron Belle Trail | Photo by Tom Pidgeon Photography

Today, representatives of 22 bike/ped organizations and government agencies from six states are convening in Illinois for Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s 2016 Midwest Policy Summit. The bike/ped landscape in the region has changed dramatically in recent years, and there are many major projects in the works. Here are five big happenings in the Heartland that are changing the face of active transportation (in no particular order).

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Opening Day 2015 in Concord, California | Photo by Barry Bergman

Celebrate Opening Day for Trails With RTC on April 16!

Posted 04/13/16 by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in Taking Action, Trail Use | Tagged with California, Community Events, District Of Columbia, Maryland, Ohio, OpeningDay, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin

Thousands of people across the country have pledged to get out and celebrate trails on Saturday, April 16—the nation’s fourth annual Opening Day for Trails. Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is hosting some awesome rides and events in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin and California. Here's more info!

Glacial Drumlin State Trail in Wisconsin | Photo courtesy Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin | CC by 2.0

Meet the Badger: 500-Mile Trail Network Takes Hold in Southeast Wisconsin

Posted 03/03/16 by Amy Kapp in Building Trails | Tagged with Celebrating 30 Years, Connected Systems, Route of the Badger, Tourism and Economic Development, Trail Destinations, Wisconsin

In October 2014, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) formally launched an initiative in Southeast Wisconsin that could have an enormous transformative effect on the region and America’s rail-trail future. The goal of the project, appropriately dubbed the Route of the Badger, is to connect completed trails in seven counties—Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Walworth, Washington and Waukesha—into a world-class destination trail system.

Elroy-Sparta 50th Anniversary Celebration - left to right: Stephanie Klett, Wisconsin secretary of tourism; Kurt Thiede, deputy secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources; Keith Laughlin, RTC president; Brigit Brown, Wisconsin trails coordinator; and former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson | Photo courtesy RTC

The Trail That Started It All: Elroy-Sparta Celebrates 50 Years

Posted 06/15/15 by Elizabeth Striano in Success Stories, America's Trails | Tagged with Community Events, Success Stories, Wisconsin

Earlier this month, one of the oldest rail-trails in the nation turned 50! RTC President Keith Laughlin joined local leaders and residents from several towns along the trail’s path at a 50th anniversary ceremony sponsored by Friends of the Elroy-Sparta State Trail.

On the Elroy-Sparta State Trail in Wisconsin | Photo courtesy Rick McCutcheon | CC by 2.0

Will a Limestone Quarry Disrupt a Celebrated Wisconsin Rail-Trail?

Posted 03/18/15 by Leeann Sinpatanasakul in Taking Action | Tagged with RTC in Action, Wisconsin

On Monday, March 16, 2015, officials in Monroe County, Wis., voted to approve a limestone quarry near the Elroy-Sparta State Trail in Wilton, despite local opposition. Learn how this decision could potentially impact the Elroy Sparta-—an iconic American rail-trail, and one of the first to be completed in the nation.

Peter Mulvey | Photo by Jonathan Ryder

Musician-Bicyclist Peter Mulvey to Play for Trails on Jan. 25

Posted 01/20/15 by Amy Kapp in America's Trails | Tagged with Champions, Community Events, Wisconsin

Vetern singer-songwriter and passionate cyclist Peter Mulvey will be performing a 12-hour online concert on Jan. 25, 2015—and dedicating the 11th hour to Rails-to-Trails Conservancy! The concert will be streamed online live from the Café Carpe in Fort Atkinson, Wis., and we encourage you to tune in!

View of the Kinnickinnic River from the trail | Photo by John December

Wisconsin's Kinnickinnic River Trail

Posted 01/13/15 by Laura Stark in America's Trails | Tagged with Success Stories, Tourism and Economic Stimulus, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month, Wisconsin

The story of Milwaukee’s Kinnickinnic River Trail is the story of its eponymous river; paralleling each other through the city’s south side, the fate of the two is intimately intertwined. The KK River Trail, as it’s known locally, is also referred to as the “lost river.”

The Bella Donnas | Photo CC Jillian Imilkowski

Ride, Women, Ride

Posted 01/09/15 by Katie Harris in Success Stories | Tagged with Biking, Success Stories, Wisconsin

When Carmen Berte met The Bella Donnas, Milwaukee’s self-described “premier all-girl, noncompetitive, mentoring and motivational cycling group,” in 2008, she wasn’t sure it was the right place for her. Her hesitation didn’t last long.

Photo © Sheboygan County Planning and Conservation Department

Wisconsin's Shoreland 400 Rail Trail

Posted 05/01/14 by Laura Stark in America's Trails | Tagged with Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month, Wisconsin

Sheboygan County is rural, small-town America—no doubt about it. This is Wisconsin dairyland, situated halfway between Milwaukee and Green Bay, where the county seat is the Bratwurst Capital of the World. It's not the type of place that one would expect a thriving walking and biking culture, which made it the perfect candidate for a grand, national experiment that began in 2005. And in Sheboygan, the county's largest city, the Shoreland 400 Rail Trail was a little trail designed to have a big impact on changing modes and minds on transportation.

Glacial Drumlin State Trail, Wisconsin

Posted 09/01/12 by Laura Stark in America's Trails | Tagged with Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month, Wisconsin

Wisconsin's 52-mile Glacial Drumlin State Trail follows the corridor of a former passenger railroad that some speculate was built by the Chicago and Northwestern Railway purely for political convenience. Completed in 1882, the Milwaukee and Madison Air Line provided a straight shot through rural countryside and several small communities to connect two of the state's most important cities—but very little in-between.