A 4,000-Mile Trail System Will One Day Connect Both Coasts
From the historical landmarks of the U.S. capital to the majestic Cascades mountain range, outdoor enthusiasts will soon be able to enjoy both places as part of one connected trail system.
For the first time in history, a trail will connect nearly 4,000 miles of the country from Washington, D.C. to Washington State. The initiative was announced last month by the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy as the Great American Rail-Trail, a project that will connect thousands of miles of rail-trail and other multi-use trails across 12 states.
While the idea for the cross-country trail came about in the late 1980s, the project became viable to the conservancy over the past few decades with the construction of state parks and trail systems that naturally created a nationwide connection that was already more than 50 percent complete.
“We view our role at Rails-to-Trails as a way of filling in the gaps between the existing trails, celebrating the work that people have already done on the ground to build the trails and keep them maintained and do all the hard work,” trail planner Kevin Belanger told Bicycling. “We want to elevate that work and fill in all the gaps.”
For the past 18 months, the conservancy has worked with local trail partners and state agencies to assess the best route options and determine where to fill in the remaining gaps. At this point, the trail system is 50 percent complete, and features 12 gateway trails that will eventually connect between the states.
Those trails include the Capital Crescent Trail in Washington, D.C., and Maryland, the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park in Washington, D.C., and Maryland, the Panhandle Trail in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, the Ohio to Erie Trail, the Cardinal Greenway in Indiana, the Hennepin Canal Parkway in Illinois, the Cedar Valley Nature Trail in Iowa, the Cowboy Recreation and Nature Trail in Nebraska, the Casper Rail Trail in Wyoming, the Headwaters Trail System in Montana, the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes in Idaho, and the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail in Washington.
[Want to fly up hills? Climb! gives you the workouts and mental strategies to conquer your nearest peak.]
“The Great American Rail-Trail is a bold vision-one that will take years to complete. The investment of time and resources necessary to complete this trail will be returned many times over as it takes its place among the country’s national treasures,” Rails-to-Trails President Keith Laughlin said in a statement. “As we embark on the journey to complete the Great American Rail-Trail, we embark on the single greatest trail project in the history of the U.S. One that comes with an important legacy of unity, ambition and access to the outdoors for the nation. One that represents an opportunity to do something big for America.”
While the full route won’t be released until later this spring, cyclists, walkers, and runners can still enjoy portions of the trail. Eventually, the entire route will be a multi-use trail, separate from vehicle traffic and open to a range of outdoor enthusiasts. Depending on the state trail’s preferences, some will be paved, with another trail option for equestrian riders, while other areas will have a dirt trail option for runners. While maintaining a steady, relatively flat gradient for cyclists to ride throughout, the trail will feature an interesting variety of terrain accessible to a wider population across the country.
“This opens up trail use to a lot more people, being able to make it open to a broader net that we can cast for folks using these trails,” Belanger said. “Getting folks from the city out to the country and getting folks to the country out into the cities because we'll be passing through, being able to see the country outside of a car but being safe while you’re doing it.”
“We want to be able to promote how exciting it is that people can do something like that, being able to meet people being on your own two feet or wheels, that’s pretty awesome,” he said.
The remaining 125 trails planned for the Great American Rail-Trail will be announced in May 2019.
('You Might Also Like',)
