great american rail-trail

2021 RTC Fall Trail Grants Supporting Equitable Trail Access Around the Nation

Posted 11/17/21 by Mary Ellen Koontz in America's Trails, Building Trails | Tagged with Baltimore Greenway Trails Coalition, Capital Trails Coalition, Caracara, Connected Systems, Funding, Great American Rail-Trail, IHTC, Miami LOOP, Route of the Badger, TrailNation

Washington's Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail in part of the Great American Rail-Trail | Photo by TrailLink user scfroehlich

On Nov. 17, RTC announced the recipients of over $300,000 in grants as part of the 2021 Trail Grants Program. These grants were given to 45 organizations around the country to advance trail projects in their communities as part of TrailNation™ networks and along the preferred route of the Great American Rail-Trail™.

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Washington's Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail in part of the Great American Rail-Trail | Photo by TrailLink user scfroehlich

2021 RTC Fall Trail Grants Supporting Equitable Trail Access Around the Nation

Posted 11/17/21 by Mary Ellen Koontz in America's Trails, Building Trails | Tagged with Baltimore Greenway Trails Coalition, Capital Trails Coalition, Caracara, Connected Systems, Funding, Great American Rail-Trail, IHTC, Miami LOOP, Route of the Badger, TrailNation

On Nov. 17, RTC announced the recipients of over $300,000 in grants as part of the 2021 Trail Grants Program. These grants were given to 45 organizations around the country to advance trail projects in their communities as part of TrailNation™ networks and along the preferred route of the Great American Rail-Trail™.

Ohio's Camp Chase Trail | Photo by TrailLink user jodydzuranin

Ohio’s Camp Chase Trail

Posted 11/10/21 by Christina Sturdivant Sani in America's Trails | Tagged with Best Of, Connected Systems, Great American Rail-Trail, Ohio, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month, Walkability and Bikeability

Ohio’s Camp Chase Trail is a 16-mile pathway traversing bountiful farmlands, calming countryside and invigorating city scenes. It begins at the Wilson Road trailhead in rural Madison County, heading east toward Columbus.

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.

Nebraska's Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge | Photo courtesy Visit Omaha

Top 10 Trails in Nebraska

Posted 10/27/21 by Cory Matteson in America's Trails | Tagged with Best Of, Great American Rail-Trail, Nebraska, Top10, Trail Destinations

Nebraska is a key connector for the Great American Rail-Trail™, with over half of the 591 miles of the preferred route in the state already developed. Those trails include one of the longest in the country—as well as a collection of rail-trails that let users experience the cities, towns, farmland, prairies and everything else that makes the Great Plains unique. Including the wind. As one cyclist put it to me a few years ago when I was writing about the Chief Standing Bear Trail, “The wind is our mountain.”

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.

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.

Graphic courtesy RTC

Miranda’s #TrailMoments from Along the Great American Rail-Trail

Posted 06/17/21 by Miranda Webster in America's Trails, Trail Use | Tagged with Biking, Great American Rail-Trail, Trail Destinations, Trail Moments, Trail Use Tips, TrailNation, Virginia, Washington, Why Use Trails?

We love that Miranda inspires people to feel more connected to the outdoors… and we REALLY love that she was able to share her experiences from along an epic 3,700-mile route that will connect the country by trail! Watch to learn about her Trail Moments, and check out her other great content by following Miranda on social media.

Capital Crescent Trail in Washington, D.C. | Photo by Jon Lowenstein

History Along the Great American Rail-Trail: A Kick-Off With the Creators

Posted 06/14/21 by Amy Kapp in America's Trails | Tagged with Great American Rail-Trail, History Happened Here, Trail Destinations, TrailNation

In 2019, TrailLink.com™, RTC’s national trail-finder website, embarked on an ambitious historical exploration of the developing Great American Rail-Trail, with a goal to shine a light on the people, landmarks and innovations that encapsulate this iconic 3,700-mile route between Washington, D.C., and Washington State.

Volunteers participate in a sacred corn planting in 2019, sowing the seeds by hand. | Photo by Alex Matzke, courtesy Bold Nebraska

The Legacy of White Buffalo Girl, and the Resiliency of a People

Posted 06/04/21 by Scott Stark in America's Trails | Tagged with Featured Magazine Articles, Great American Rail-Trail, Heritage and Restoration, History Happened Here, Local Organizing, Nebraska

In Laurel Hill Cemetery just outside the town of Neligh, Nebraska, stands a gravestone. The gravesite represents grief, suffering and a historic injustice. This final resting place marked the end of a short life but the beginning of a generations-long story. Here lies White Buffalo Girl.

The stunning 22-mile NorPac trail in Idaho and Montana, is a host trail of the 3,700-mile Great American Rail-Trail. | Photo by TrailLink user cstineyb

Great American Rail-Trail: Long-Distance Adventures

Posted 05/07/21 by Laura Stark in America's Trails, Trail Use | Tagged with Best Of, Biking, Great American Rail-Trail, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Tourism , Trail Destinations

During the COVID-19 pandemic, bicycle purchases have surged, and trail use around the country has seen a sustained uptick of more than 50% over previous years. Being outside has helped millions to cope, buoying support—and demand for—projects like the developing 3,700-mile Great American Rail-Trail, the nation’s first cross-country multiuse trail. Here are just a few of the long-distance outdoor adventures to be found along this unique and vital route between Washington State and Washington, D.C.

Washington's Olympic Discovery Trail | Photo by John Gussman

What’s It Like to Ride the Great American Rail-Trail? Just Ask These Trail Trekkers.

Posted 05/07/21 by Cory Matteson in America's Trails, Trail Use, Health and Wellness | Tagged with Great American Rail-Trail, Health and Active Living, Healthy Aging, Tourism , Trail Destinations, Walkability and Bikeability, Why Use Trails?

To commemorate the anniversary of the launch of the Great American, RTC talked to several long-distance bicyclists who have taken on the trail already—or are about to—to learn about their experiences so far, and why they’re tackling it the way they are.