As 2020 draws to a close—a year of extreme changes and challenges—it is with incredible appreciation that we reflect on the collective impact of our movement across the country.

We also got many questions—about the prevalence of experiences of inequity and injustice in the outdoors as well as what we’re doing about it.

Here’s a look at RTC and a decade of rail-trails—their power and their impact. As the 2010s built momentum, opportunities to maximize the power of these essential community assets became clear.

This year, America and the rail-trail movement saw giant leaps, and small-but-no-less-important bounds, that have helped to achieve RTC’s goal of connecting the country by trail like never before.

A privilege of my job is to visit trails and public spaces across the country and meet inspiring supporters and leaders.

Here is a spotlight on some of the critical TrailNation project advances we made in 2018—and how they are bringing to life our vision of trails at the heart of healthy, thriving communities.

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) and the national trail community put itself on the front lines to protect and defend trails in 2018. Here are five ways we mobilized in communities this year.

An active and enthusiastic crowd of trail advocates gathered to kick off the state’s newly formed Legislative Trails Caucus.

The Oak Leaf Trail, covering a whopping 120 miles, encircles Milwaukee, the state’s largest city, and spans Milwaukee County nearly edge to edge.