Top Trails in the United States

The Great Allegheny Passage (gaptrail.org) at the Eastern Continental Divide in Maryland | Photo by David Ni

Learn About Trails In Your State

Select a state to learn more about top walking and biking trails, stats, projects, stories and trails near me.

Ohio's Cleveland Foundation Centennial Lake Link Trail | Photo by Renee Rosensteel

RTC has Top 10 blog features on all 50 U.S. States, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

View Top 10 Trails By State

Trail Tips and Resources

Prepare for your next trail visit by checking out these helpful tips and resources organized by activity.

View Tips and Resources

National Rail-Trail and Trail Mileage Counts

The following content is updated periodically to provide current information about Rails to Trails Conservancy and rail-trail development at the national and state level.

United States Trail Stats

2,423

total rail-trails

25,934

miles of rail-trails

863

current projects

9,029

miles of potential rail-trail

Longest Rail-Trails in the United States

*This list is comprised of rail-trails more than 100 miles long, where at least 90 percent of the trail is on a former railroad corridor.

Katy Trail State Park (Missouri) – 239 miles
Palouse to Cascades States Park Trail (Washington) – 236 miles
Cowboy Recreation and Nature Trail (Nebraska) – 203 miles
Great Allegheny Passage (Maryland, Pennsylvania) – 153 miles
Columbia Plateau Trail State Park (Washington) – 130 miles
Paul Bunyan State Trail (Minnesota) – 122 miles
Flint Hills Trail State Park (Kansas) – 118 miles
Soo Line Trail (Southern Route) (Minnesota) – 114.5 miles
George S. Mickelson Trail (South Dakota) – 112 miles
OC&E Woods Line State Trail (Oregon) – 110 miles
State Line Trail (Michigan) – 107 miles
Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail (Florida) – 106 miles

Silver Comet Trail | Photo by TrailLink user papa t

Long-Distance Rides on Hall of Fame Rail-Trails

Read Article

Meandering across Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, the developing Olympic Discovery Trail will one day span 135 miles, connecting the Puget Sound to the Pacific Ocean. | Photo by John Gussman

Tips for Planning for Long-Distance Trips

View Tips

Hall of Fame Trails

In 2007, RTC began recognizing exemplary rail-trails around the country through its Hall of Fame.

View Hall of Fame

$1.4 B

Available Funds in Our Country

United States Trail Funds

FY23 Total Reserved for Transportation Alternatives and Recreational Trails Program (source: FHWA)

Learn more about federal funding

Trail Networks

Rails to Trails Conservancy’s TrailNation™ initiative brings to life our vision of trails at the heart of healthy, thriving communities—showcasing the impact of trail networks and redefining how we create them. Since the launch of our first TrailNation project in 2013, our portfolio has grown to 10 regional projects plus the cross-country Great American Rail-Trail® connecting nearly 12,000 miles of trails across neighborhood, city, county and state lines. Ultimately, our regional projects will serve nearly 35 million people living within 2 miles of a network, and the Great American will serve an estimated 50 million people within 50 miles of the route.

Through these models for the country in collaboration with 300+ partners, as well as the TrailNation Collaborative and TrailNation Playbook, we’re moving the needle, accelerating trail development and transforming the American landscape.

Great American Rail-Trail

The nation’s first cross-country multiuse trail, the route will be entirely bikeable and walkable across 3,700+ miles between Washington, D.C., and Washington State.

^{Pennsylvania’s Great Allegheny Passage (gaptrail.org) | Photo by Milo Bateman}

Learn more about the Great American

Baltimore Greenway Trails Network

The Baltimore Greenway Trails Network is a vision for a 35-mile world-class network of urban trails that will link together the diverse neighborhoods, cultural amenities and outdoor resources of Baltimore City.

^{Photo by Side A Photography}

Learn more about the network

Bay Area Trails Collaborative

The vision of the award-winning Bay Area Trails Collaborative is to develop a 2,604-mile regional trail network that will connect the San Francisco Bay Area—its trails, people and places—in innovative new ways.

^{California’s San Francisco Bay Trail | Photo by Cindy Barks}

Learn more about the network

Capital Trails Coalition

The Capital Trails Coalition (CTC) footprint currently includes more than 800 miles of existing and planned trails and connections in Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Virginia.

^{DC’s Metropolitan Branch Trail | Photo by India Kea}

Learn more about the network

Circuit Trails

The Circuit Trails is a regional urban trail network in Greater Philadelphia and New Jersey. The project will eventually encompass 800 miles of trails on both sides of the Delaware River.

^{Schuylkill River Trail | Photo by Thom Carroll Photography}

Learn more about the Circuit

Caracara Trails

In the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas, the Caracara Trails is a vision for a 428-mile trail network.

^{Tour of Texas’ Caracara Trails | Photo by John Faulk, Frontera Media}

Learn more about the network

Industrial Heartland Trails Coalition

The vision of the Industrial Heartland Trails Coalition (IHTC) is a 1,500-mile-plus trail network that will span Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and New York.

^{Cleveland Foundation Centennial Lake Link Trail, part of the IHTC | Photo by Jason Cohn}

Learn more about IHTC

Miami LOOP

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.

^{Atlantic Greenway South Beach Trail, part of the Miami LOOP | Photo by Lee Smith}

Learn more about the network

New England Rail-Trail Network

RTC is working with trail advocates and transportation leaders from Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont to advance a plan for connecting the region’s 1,000 miles of open trail.

^{Vermont’s Lamoille Valley Rail Trail | Photo by TrailLink user bobwhite}

Learn more about the network

Route of the Badger

The Route of the Badger offers a vision of healthy, thriving communities in Southeast Wisconsin centered around a world-class, 700-miles-plus regional trail system.

^{Wisconsin’s Oak Leaf Trail | Photo by Front Room Photography}

Learn about the Route of the Badger