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The magazine is a benefit of membership to Rails to Trails Conservancy, which is $18 a year, $4 of which supports the magazine. In addition to the magazine, members receive discounts on RTC gifts and publications.

A poster child of the change that’s underway can be seen in Texas’ Lower Rio Grande Valley, where regionwide connectivity is a long-sought goal of public leaders and residents, who are seeking to connect key community destinations, urban centers and outdoor amenities into the 428-mile Caracara Trails system, an RTC TrailNation™ project.

Featuring:

Noah Heath, TxDOT; Rose Gowen, City of Brownsville; Helen Ramirez, City of Brownsville; Eva Garcia, Rio Grande Valley MPO

Produced by Rails to Trails magazine and DS Simon Media

The people of Missouri are leading the charge for the Rock Island Trail State Park, anticipating the incredible impact the trail, when realized, could have along the 144-mile corridor. This video shines a light on how the communities are making it happen, with a goal to revitalize towns, spur new business and commerce, create safe off-road routes to destinations in dozens of towns along the route, and establish a new statewide tourism identity.

Read more about the Rock Island Trail State Park project in our online feature.

Featuring:

Rep. Bruce Sassmann, Missouri House of Representatives, 62nd District; Mayor Shannon Grus, City of Rosebud; Kim Henderson, Friends of Rock Island Trail State Park; Cary Parker, Gerald City Council/Bistro at the Mill; Jimmy Zumwalt, Mid-State Pipeline Maintenance/City of Belle

Produced by Rails to Trails magazine and DS Simon Media

In Milwaukee, local leaders and trail advocates are working together to revitalize the 30th Street Corridor, once one of America’s most vibrant and prodigious manufacturing areas. Learn about the community’s vision to reignite the corridor and create new and vibrant prospects for commerce, economic development, recreation and active transportation—within the corridor and beyond. The corridor is a key segment of the developing 700-mile Route of the Badger, an RTC TrailNation™ project.

Featuring:

Willie Smith, Northwest Side CDC; Danitra Jones, Northwest Side CDC; Ammar Nsoroma, Red, Bike & Green-Milwaukee; and Willie Karidis, Rails to Trails Conservancy

Produced by Rails to Trails magazine and Johnson Media Consulting.

In California, billions of dollars are being invested through the state’s Active Transportation Program to create equitable access to trails in under-resourced communities and generate new economic, health, climate and active transportation benefits. Here, we explore two projects in the Bay Area regional trail network—the Richmond Greenway and the developing West Oakland Link—with a focus on their impact for residents, neighborhoods and the region.

Featuring:

Najari Smith, Rich City Rides; Toody Maher, Pogo Park; Gavin Lohry, Metropolitan Transportation Commission; Ms. Margaret Gordon, West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project; and Laura Cohen, Rails to Trails Conservancy

Produced by Rails to Trails magazine and DS Simon Media.

In Washington State, trail builders, public officials and tribal leaders across the Olympic Peninsula are working to create a seamless, 138-mile walking and bicycling route that will connect people and elevate the cultural and geographical treasures of this famed region. In this video, we hear from voices on the ground about the opportunities and impact they seek to realize for their communities through their work on the Olympic Discovery Trail—also a key segment of the developing 3,700-mile Great American Rail-Trail.

Featuring:

Jon Snyder, Office of Gov. Jay Inslee; W. Ron Allen, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe; Andy Stevenson, Peninsula Trails Coalition; Annette Nesse, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe; Lissy Andros, Forks Chamber of Commerce; and Heidi Eisenhour, Jefferson County Commission.

Produced by Rails to Trails magazine and DS Simon Media.

Safe places to walk and ride. Connections to schools, parks and transit. A corridor for economic revitalization. These are some of the critical drivers for local leaders and residents in the greater Detroit area—who have come together in a powerful collaboration to re-envision their communities and help create regional connectivity. Learn more about the 27.5-mile developing Joe Louis Greenway.

Featuring:

Ashia Phillips, Citizen Advisory Council + D-Town Riders Brian Charlton, SmithGroup Christina Peltier, City of Detroit RuShann Long, Citizen Advisory Council + Greenway Heritage Conservancy Todd Scott, Detroit Greenways Coalition 30th Street Corridor Partners, Milwaukee Bronzeville Trail Task Force, Chicago D-Town Riders

Produced by Rails to Trails magazine and Johnson Media Consulting.

Near Fort Robinson State Park in Nebraska, a Northern Cheyenne monument serves to honor the 130 Northern Cheyenne men, women and children who made a bold move toward freedom in 1879. Now, their story is being memorialized in a healing trail along the 3,700-mile Great American Rail-Trail^® that will honor their legacy. Also, don’t miss Rails to Trails’ recent feature article on the Northern Cheyenne Journey Home.

Featuring:

Major Robinson, Redstone Project Development; Eva Foote, Northern Cheyenne Journey Home Committee; Vincent Whitecrane, Northern Cheyenne Journey Home Committee; Gerry Robinson, Author and Northern Cheyenne Historian; Dr. Richard Littlebear, Chief Dull Knife College

Produced by Rails to Trails Conservancy and Eric Ian Photo & Film.

As work to complete the 3,700-mile Great American Rail-Trail moves forward, RTC has embarked on an endeavor through its national trail-finder website, TrailLink.com™, to examine and celebrate the unique history of people and places along the trail’s iconic route. In this video, we explore the history of three sites connected across distance and time by the developing trail, including the Alexandria Aqueduct in Washington, D.C., Our Lady of the Rockies in Butte, Montana, and WWII pilot Sator Sanchez of Joliet, Illinois.

Featuring:

Avigail Oren, lead historian; Dr. Pat Munday, Montana Technological University; Mike Nardollili, Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin.

Produced by Rails to Trails magazine.

Through the Baltimore Greenway Trails Coalition, RTC and partners are bringing mobility into sharp focus through the creation of a 35-mile trail system that will connect more than 60 neighborhoods. This includes a key effort to close a trail gap in South Baltimore and create new safe walking and bicycling connections through the city’s green space and bustling waterfront.

Produced by Rails to Trails magazine in partnership with Wide Angle Youth Media.

The Great American Rail-Trail® promises an all-new American experience—spanning more than 3,700 miles from Washington to Washington, and serving nearly 50 million people within 50 miles of the route. Across the nation—and the world—only the limits of imagination will limit its use, as it helps spur tourism and economic opportunities while highlighting America’s most iconic landmarks and geography.

Produced by Rails to Trails Conservancy.

View more Great American videos.

In this video, we share how we rely on Google Maps Platform to power the TrailLink trail-finder website and mobile apps.

Drone footage provided by FlightSpool.

Produced by Google.

A unique public-private partnership of Houston Parks Board and the Houston Parks and Recreation Department, Bayou Greenways 2020 is a developing 150-mile system of linear parks that is fast becoming a model for urban trail networks—maximizing the city’s natural assets to connect neighborhoods and people, and generating both economic opportunity and places to play for everyone who lives there.

Special thanks to the Houston Parks Board and the Houston Parks and Recreation Department.

Produced by Rails to Trails magazine in partnership with DS Simon Media.

At 3,000 feet long and 85 feet above the water, the Beverly Bridge over the Columbia River represents a spectacular piece of railroad history and human ingenuity along the former Milwaukee Road railroad corridor in Washington State. Learn how revitalizing this landmark would help complete a critical gap in the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail—formerly known as the John Wayne Pioneer Trail—seamlessly linking eastern and western Washington by rail-trail and creating vital connections for recreation, active transportation and outdoor tourism.

Special thanks to the Palouse to Cascades Trail Coalition, the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation, the Cascade Rail Foundation and the office of Gov. Jay Inslee (Washington).

Produced by Rails to Trails magazine in partnership with DS Simon Media.

Hear, see and experience the artwork of watercolorist David Paul Cook—who has been capturing the beauty and spirit of the 21-mile Arkansas River Trail.

View accompanying interactive Story Map.

Produced by Rails to Trails Conservancy.

Columbus, Ohio, is setting itself up to be a model for connected, 21st-century cities with an eye on creating safe, equitable walking and biking routes across neighborhoods. Learn how its 180-mile developing trail system is opening up new avenues for health, transportation and exploration—and improving the quality of life for residents.

Produced by Rails to Trails magazine in partnership with DS Simon Media.

Thirty years ago at its inception, it ignited fierce opposition from neighboring landowners. Now, the Virginia Creeper Trail is an economic boon for the sleepy Southern towns of Abingdon and Damascus, bringing in hundreds of thousands of visitors and generating tens-of-millions of dollars per year in tourism revenues.

For an extended look at the Creeper, check out Rails to Trails’ Winter 2015 Cover Story, “Appalachian Engine.”

Produced by Rails to Trails magazine in partnership with DS Simon Media.

Calling all trail users! RTC challenges YOU to be the best you can be on America’s pathways! Remember—safe + fun = a great time for everyone! Watch this quick video to learn the six golden rules of trail use. For extended info, check out RTC’s Share the Trail award-winning video series.

Produced by Rails to Trails Conservancy in partnership with 5:00 Films & Media.

In April 2001, New York graphic designer and self-proclaimed couch potato Mark Phillips left his life behind to attempt to walk across the country. Hear Mark talk about his experiences, which took him on rail-trails and through some of America’s incredible communities. Now a full-length documentary film project. 

Note: This video contains five seconds worth of language (bleeped, 45 seconds into the story) that may be inappropriate for some audiences.

Footage by Mark Phillips. Interview/editing by Stark Images.

Produced by Rails to Trails Magazine.

Experience the grandeur of California’s Bizz Johnson National Recreation Trail in this video. The Bizz Johnson is a fantastic 26.5-mile rail-trail that cuts through alpine woodlands and a beautiful river canyon, and passes historic sites, tunnels and trestles along the way.

Filmed and edited by Myles Smythe of Michigan Bluff Photography.

Produced by Rails to Trails Magazine.

During the summer of 2013, Rails to Trails Conservancy’s Katie Harris, 23, biked across the U.S. with her best friend. They had the time of their lives.

Read Katie’s blog “Seven Things That Can Go Wrong on a Bike—And How to Fix ‘Em!“

Produced by Rails to Trails magazine.