The bustling Charlotte Rail Trail is a 12-foot-wide swath of urban utopia in North Carolina’s largest city. Bikers stream by in packs.

Leading from South Haven to Kalamazoo, Michigan’s Kal-Haven Trail State Park ranks as one of the state’s most popular rail-trails.

Winding 25 miles through the northwest corner of Oregon, the Crown Zellerbach Trail (affectionately nicknamed the Crown Z Trail) serves as a rolling journey into history, introducing visitors to the home of the region’s First Peoples, the legacy of the area’s railroad and timber industries and intriguing geological events.

Over the past two decades, the Greenway of Greater Grand Forks has attracted more and more uses, and Greendahl said she often gets requests for new features, such as more river access points.

Aptly named for the moss-draped oaks along the route, the woodsy sections of the Spanish Moss Trail provide a cool respite in the South Carolina summers.

When someone says “Idaho,” most people think of potatoes, but the Weiser River National Recreation Trail demonstrates there is so much more to the landscape and the people. Traveling 84 miles—from forested terrain through canyons and onto the high prairie in the west-central part of the state—there is an ever-changing beauty that evokes an appreciation of the region and the forward-thinking individuals who sought to preserve the corridor.

Dawkins Line Rail Trail is Kentucky’s longest rail-trail. The 36-mile crushed-stone path is open to bicyclists, hikers and horseback riders.

As California’s Napa Valley Vine Trail grows to reach its ultimate 47-mile potential, community members and visitors realize the beauty of connectivity and accessibility.

Bob Hamblen takes to the Eastern Trail on his bike, riding through various sections of the route that traverses 28 miles of southern Maine’s spectacular coastline. While he sees it as “a win” wherever he ends up on the trail, the long-time Saco resident has his favorites.

The American Tobacco Trail connects to over 70 miles of trails and greenways through urban, suburban and rural communities.