featured magazine articles Page 2

A jogger on the Hudson River Valley Greenway catches the last rays of the day’s light as the sun sets behind the New Jersey skyline. | Photo by Scott Stark

2020 Vision: New York's “Empire State Trail" Is Making Trails a Main Attraction

Posted 08/09/18 by Scott Stark in America's Trails, Building Trails | Tagged with Connected Systems, Facts and FIgures, Featured Magazine Articles, Hall of Fame, Health and Active Living, Local Organizing, New York, Trail Destinations, Trails of the World, Transportation and Health, Urban Pathways, Walkability and Bikeability

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced in early January 2017 his $200 million plan to lay down 350 miles of new trails in three years to bridge the gaps in two major existing routes—the east-west Erie Canalway Trail and the north-south Hudson River Valley Greenway—and knit them together into the greater Empire State Trail (EST). Shaped like a giant sideways T intersecting near Albany, the EST will connect three corners of the state: Manhattan, Buffalo and the Canadian border near Lake Champlain.

The 10.7-mile Shining Sea Bikeway provides a tranquil experience in Cape Cod, one of New England's popular summer destinations. | Photo by Leeann Sinpatanasakul, courtesy Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

Beautiful Inspiration: From Sea to ‘Shining Sea Bikeway’

Posted 07/16/18 by Leeann Sinpatanasakul in Trail Use, America's Trails | Tagged with Featured Magazine Articles, Massachusetts, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations

Even now, some of my fondest childhood summer memories are of making the drive to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, for a week’s vacation with my extended family. The only bikeway on Cape Cod to feature a seaside section—is the perfect way to combine both summer treats, trail and beach, for an unforgettable experience.

The Atlantic Greenway in South Beach is part of Florida’s 225-mile developing Miami LOOP. | Photo by Lee Smith

Bright Horizons: Florida’s Miami LOOP

Posted 01/12/18 by Cindy Barks, Amy Kapp in America's Trails, Building Trails, Success Stories | Tagged with Best Of, Bike Commuting, Connected Systems, Demand for Trails, Ecology and Environment, Encouraging Trail Use, Facts and FIgures, Featured Magazine Articles, Florida, Health and Active Living, Miami LOOP, Tourism and Economic Development, Tourism and Economic Stimulus, TrailNation, TrailsTransform, Urban Pathways, Walkability and Bikeability

Approximately 54 percent complete to date, the Miami LOOP is a 225-mile trail vision to expand transportation options, make biking and walking safer and more equitable, strengthen the regional economy, reduce the area’s carbon footprint, and improve health and wellness across Miami-Dade County. The Miami LOOP is a project of the Miami-Dade Trail Alliance and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy through its TrailNation™ program. Learn more: railstotrails.org/miami.

The Ronald Kirk pedestrian bridge (left) and the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge over the Trinity Skyline Trail, Dallas, Texas

New Year—New Visions: The Age of Connectivity

Posted 12/22/17 by Keith Laughlin in America's Trails, Building Trails | Tagged with Connected Systems, Design Strategies, Encouraging Trail Use, Featured Magazine Articles, History Happened Here, Mapping and Technology, Trail Communities, TrailNation, Transportation and Health, Walkability and Bikeability, Why Use Trails?

A new era is upon us—one we’re calling the Age of Connectivity, both for its genesis in technology and its potential to reconnect people and places. This is a time when trails—our communities’ greatest connectors—will work hand in hand with innovation.

Eldorado Bicycle and Walking Path in Illinois | Photo by Gary Wilhelm

Rail-Trails Honoring America’s Veterans

Posted 11/09/17 by Cindy Barks in America's Trails, Trail Use | Tagged with Best Of, Featured Magazine Articles, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire

In addition to their value for recreation and transportation, rail-trails provide public spaces to share our collective culture and history. In recognition of Veterans Day, we’ve highlighted three rail-trails that offer quiet, reflective places to honor and remember our country’s servicemen and women.

Blue Springs trailhead, Chief Standing Bear Trail, Nebraska | Photo by Don Rice

Landmark and Legacy: Nebraska’s Chief Standing Bear Trail

Posted 11/01/17 by Cory Matteson in America's Trails, Building Trails | Tagged with Demand for Trails, Ecology and Environment, Featured Magazine Articles, Heritage and Restoration, History Happened Here, Local Organizing, Maintenance and Volunteers, Nebraska, Rock Island

The 22.9-mile Chief Standing Bear Trail helps memorialize the 1877 walk of the Ponca Tribe back to their homeland, led by Chief Standing Bear and known as the Ponca Trail of Tears.

The bike- and pedestrian-friendly Route 52 bridge plays a key role in the region’s growing trail network. | Photo courtesy South Jersey Transportation Planning Organization

New Jersey’s Cape May County Trail Network

Posted 08/01/17 by Laura Stark in America's Trails, Trail Use | Tagged with Connected Systems, District Of Columbia, Featured Magazine Articles, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Trail Destinations

South New Jersey’s Cape May County offers an outdoor recreation mecca within easy driving distance of Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

Park Linéaire le P’tit Train du Nord | Photo courtesy Jean-Pierre Lavoie | CC BY 2.0

A View From … The Great Trail in Canada

Posted 06/28/17 by Laura Stark in Trail Use | Tagged with Best Of, Canada, Connected Systems, Featured Magazine Articles, Tourism , Trail Destinations

It’s a fitting way for Canada to celebrate its 150th birthday: In 2017, The Great Trail will be fully connected, enabling people to cross the country on a series of greenways, waterways and on-road routes to experience Canada’s rugged wilderness, rural beauty, historical attractions, vibrant cities and charming small towns up close.

Bill and Pam Metzger (second from left and right) on their wedding day in June 1997 along the Montour Trail in Pennsylvania | Photo courtesy Bill Metzger

A Trail Life Well Lived—And Loved

Posted 02/13/17 by Laura Stark in America's Trails | Tagged with Featured Magazine Articles, Pennsylvania, Success Stories

In this blog posted in honor of Valentine's Day, the co-creator of the legendary Great Allegheny Passage and Montour Trail talks about some of his fondest memories of the two pathways—including the day he got married!

Snow biking and skiing on the Rio Grande Trail near Basalt, Colorado | Photo courtesy Pitkin County Open Space and Trails

10 Rail-Trail Winter Wonderlands

Posted 12/20/16 by Laura Stark in America's Trails, Trail Use | Tagged with Best Of, Featured Magazine Articles, Health and Active Living, Trail Destinations, Winter Uses

When the snow hits, many trail enthusiasts stow their running shoes or tuck their bikes into the back of the garage, missing an opportunity to enjoy rail-trails in a completely different way. Here are 10 winter wonderland trail views to get you motivated!

Trail's End Monument in Sedalia, 35 miles east of the Katy Trail's western end in Clinton, celebrating Sedalia's history as the first "cow town" | Photo by Danielle Taylor

Pathway to Prosperity: Missouri's Katy Trail Is a Beautiful Model for Commerce

Posted 12/02/16 by Danielle Taylor in America's Trails, Success Stories | Tagged with Featured Magazine Articles, Missouri, Tourism and Economic Development, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations

Missouri’s nickname—the “Show Me State”—reflects its residents’ prudent tendency to question unsubstantiated claims, so when early proponents of the Katy Trail began advocating for its creation in the mid-1980s, it was only natural that their assertions of increased tourism and economic prosperity met with a few skeptics. However, the trail has proved its worth several times over in the quarter-century since it opened, and it now supports more than 400,000 recreational users each year as well as dozens of communities and hundreds of small businesses statewide.

Bobby Whittaker, president of Ferry County Rail Trail Partners, with 770-foot trestle over Curlew Lake in background | Photo by Rich Landers

Former R.E.M. Tour Manager Creates Rural Connections in Washington

Posted 11/07/16 by Amy Kapp in Success Stories, Building Trails | Tagged with Champions, Featured Magazine Articles, Private Fundraising, Rural Communities, Success Stories, Washington

It may be a no-brainer that Seattle-born Bobby Whittaker has always loved the outdoors, having been raised by the first American to summit Mt. Everest. It was the city’s music scene, however, that led him to a rewarding 25-year career, first with Sub Pop Records, and then as a manager and tour manager with iconic bands including Mudhoney and R.E.M. A decade ago, Whittaker read about a former rail line in rural Ferry County, Washington—a place he’d long been going to “slow down.” Now trail advocates in Ferry County are on their way to completing the 25-mile “rock n’ roll” rail-trail, which is changing people’s lives.