Trailblazer Society
2019 Trailblazer Tour | Photo by Eric Oberg
Join Trailblazer Society | Upcoming Events | Past Events and Virtual Gatherings
Our Trailblazer Society plays a transformational role in the growth of America’s trail networks. These RTC members provide leadership donations creating a powerful pool of funding for our mission-guided work.
Your generous annual gift of $1,000 or more will help people around the country safely enjoy the outdoors, connect to their communities and build healthy lifestyles.
Exclusive Benefits
In addition to all the benefits of standard membership, including our quarterly membership magazine, Rails to Trails, Trailblazer Society members receive a number of other exciting benefits, including the following:
- VIP invitations to special events, bike rides, receptions and conferences
- Complimentary Trail Calendar
- Updates detailing RTC’s work and recent accomplishments
- Personal calls and briefings from RTC staff and board members when they visit your local area
An RTC Trailblazer is an individual who helps accelerate our core trail-building efforts with personal commitments of $1,000 or more each year (or a monthly contribution of $84 or more).
At RTC, we recognize the tremendous commitment of Trailblazer Society members with special events, trail information and reports that connect you to the impact of your support.
Please feel free to call the Trailblazer Society team at 202.974.5118, or email us at Trailblazers@railstotrails.org.
Ride Schedule
Join us for Trailblazer Society rides across the country!
Especially for our Trailblazer members, we’re producing a series of locally guided tours around the country and connecting you to great achievements in the trails movement. Our small group rides bring Trailblazers together with RTC leadership and local trail champions so they can share the history and stories behind the rail-trails and greenways that connect our communities.
Events include our free half-day Trailblazer rides and our annual multi-day Trailblazer Tour supported by acclaimed tour operators Wilderness Voyagers.
Our half-day Trailblazer rides are free and accessible to a wide range of ages and abilities. Typical routes are between 15 and 30 miles and primarily take place on protected trails with minimal ascending and descending (unless otherwise noted).
For more information on these events and to RSVP today, please visit the links below.
Upcoming Events
Contact the Trailblazer Society team at 202.974.5118, or email us at Trailblazers@railstotrails.org for any questions.
Past Events and Virtual Gatherings
Trailblazer Briefing – RTC’s Strategic Plan Update with President Ryan Chao
Join Rails To Trails Conservancy’s President in discussion. We will be reviewing progress on RTC’s strategic plan with a focus on Infrastructure. How has RTC, proliferated the development of trail and active transportation networks nationwide this past year and how does it relate to our other goals in the strategic plan? Those being investment, equity and participation.
Trailblazer Briefing – Trail Towns and Businesses
Join RTC staff and other Trailblazers in conversation with Eric Martin of Wilderness Voyageurs based out of Ohiopyle, PA where Great Allegheny Passage and Youghiogheny River meet. Eric was raised in Ohiopyle and took over the family business offering cycling and rafting adventures across the country. This family business has been around since 1964, and Eric is prepared to share how trails have grown into a part of their business and the communities that their riders get to experience.
Date: Sep 26, 2024
2024 Trailblazer Tour in Missouri
RTC President Ryan Chao and RTC staff joined the Trailblazer Society for the 2024 Trailblazer Tour in Missouri. We rode along new segments of the Rock Island Trail and the Katy Trail, a hall of fame trail.
Dates: Sept. 9-13, 2024
Location: Missouri
Duration: Multiday tour
Post-Ride Meet Up with the Winooski Bike Gang
Trailblazer Society supporters joined RTC for a post ride meet up with the Winooski Bike Gang at Four Quarters Brewing in Winooski, VT. Tom Sexton, RTC’s Northeast Regional Director gave a talk on the New England Rail-Trail Network which spans across Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.
Date: June 19, 2024
Where: Four Quarters Brewing
70 Main St
Winooski, VT 05404
5/22 Happy Hour in Pittsburgh
RTC staff and Trailblazer Society supporters met up for a happy hour in Pittsburgh to learn more about the Industrial Heartland Trails Coalition.
When: May 22, 2024
Where: Sly Fox PGH Brewery at the Highline
46 S 4th Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Trailblazer Briefing on the Rock Island Trail State Park, MO.
Trailblazer Florida Ride and Briefing
The Trailblazer Society rode on the West Orange Trail in Winter Garden, Florida. RTC’s senior strategist for external relations, Ken Bryan led us on a 14-mile out-and-back ride. Ken, a longtime Florida native and trail advocate, provided an update on our work in the Sunshine State.
Then, we joined Ken in St. Petersburg for a briefing on the Pinellas Loop Trail. Ken discussed the efforts to advance the trail into downtown, as well as the history of local rail corridors.
Date: Jan. 29-30, 2024
Location: Winter Garden and St. Petersburg, FL
A Conversation With Ryan Chao on RTC in 2024
A Conversation With Tom Sexton on Trail Building and Maintenance
Trailblazer Ride: Washington & Old Dominion Trail
The Trailblazer Society went on a leisurely ride along the Washington & Old Dominion Trail in Virginia, starting in Ashburn and heading west towards Paeonian Springs for a 23-mile round-trip ride.
Date: Nov. 2, 2023
Location: W&OD Trail
2023 Trailblazer Tour
Trailblazer Society members joined RTC President Ryan Chao for the 2023 Trailblazer Tour in Maryland and Washington D.C. We rode along part of the Great American Rail-Trail® route on this five-day, four-night tour.
Dates: Sept. 11-15, 2023
Location: Washington, D.C.
A Conversation with Eric Oberg on RTC’s Midwest Regional Office History and Strategy
Trailblazer Trail Walk: Philadelphia
On May 10, 2023, we gathered in Philadelphia for a leisurely stroll along the Delaware River Trail. During the walk, we discussed this trail’s connections to the north and south of Center City and the regional Circuit Trails network. The walk took us to Penn Treaty Park and returned using new sections of the trail.
Trailblazer Ride: Explore Michigan Trails
On May 3, 2023, we explored three great trails in Lansing, Michigan—the Lansing River Trail, the Sycamore Trail and the Valhalla Trail—with fellow trail supporters in the area.
A Conversation with Mary Ellen Koontz: TrailNation Collaborative Launch
2023 Trailblazer Ride in Florida
The ride explored two of Florida’s iconic trails—Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail and the Cross Seminole Trail. RTC Senior Strategist Ken Bryan also provided updates about Coast-to-Coast Trail and other upcoming trail connections.
A Conversation with Ryan Chao: The Trails Movement in 2023
A Conversation with Ken Bryan: Trailblazer Briefing on RTC in Florida past and present
2022 Trailblazer Tour in Idaho
We rode along the spectacular Route of Hiawatha and the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes in the Idaho panhandle—part of the Great American Rail-Trail®.
Dates: Sept. 12-16, 2022
Location: Idaho
A Conversation with Tom Sexton: Trailblazer Briefing on the New England Rail-Trail Network
Ride With Us in Maryland
19-mile bike ride with RTC staff and supporters and learn about the progress of the Great American Rail Trail® and plans to resurface the C&O Canal Towpath.
Date: Saturday, May 7, 2022
Location: Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park Parking Intersection of W Main St and N Church St in Hancock, MD.
Pre-Celebrate Trails Day Happy Hour
Pre-Celebrate Trails Day Happy Hour, where supporters and partners met up to discuss RTC’s work in Ohio, including on the Great American Rail-Trail®.
Date: Apr. 22, 2022
Location: Brewcadia, 467 N. High St., Columbus, OH 43215
A Conversation with Suzanne Matyas: History of Celebrate Trails Day
A Conversation with Ryan Chao: 2022 Look Ahead
Trailblazer Briefing on the Great American Rail Trail with Kevin Belanger
A Conversation with Derek Strout, RTC’s GIS Specialist
A Conversation with Brian Housh, RTC’s Policy Manager
A Conversation with Ryan Chao, RTC’s President
Florida’s Coast-to-Coast Trail Ride
We rode 25 miles from Winter Garden to South Apopka and back along the West Orange Trail—one of the popular pathways that make up the route of the 250-mile coast-to-coast Trail. We had a late lunch at the Crooked Can Brewing Company and Plant Street Market, just off the trail. RTC Senior Strategist Ken Bryan also provided updates about this cross-state trail.
Date: Feb. 24, 2020
Location: 8 North Highland Ave., Winter Garden, FL 34787
2019 Trailblazer Tour in Cleveland, OH
RTC staff and members travelled by trail for the 2019 Trailblazer Tour from Yellow Springs, Ohio to Cleveland, riding along the Little Miami Scenic Trail, the Ohio to Erie Trail the Heart of Ohio and many more, following part of the Great American Rail-Trail. This tour ended on the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
Date: Sept. 3-7, 2019
Location: Yellow Springs, Ohio to Cleveland, Ohio
Gravel ride with the Trailblazer Society on the Circuit Trails
RTC staff, supporters and members went on a gravel ride that explored how the region’s 750-mile trail network connects us to some of the best off-road gravel riding on the East Coast.
This out-and-back, no-drop group ride led by our friends at Bicycle Therapy.
Date: May 19, 2019
Location: Bicycle Therapy 2211 South St., Philadelphia, PA 19146
Trailblazer Opening Day Meetup in Chicago
RTC staff, Trailblazer Society Members and supporters met in the Gallery room at Lagunitas Chicago to kick-start Opening Day for Trails weekend and learn about the Great American Rail-Trail—our exciting coast-to-coast trail project.
Date: April 12, 2019 from 6 to 9 p.m.
Location: 2607 W. 17th St., Chicago, IL 60608
San Francisco, CA Happy Hour
RTC staff and supporters to celebrated a big win in California together. RTC was at the center of a successful effort to pass legislation to support the Great Redwood Trail, which will become the longest trail in the state, and one of the premier rail-trails in the country. This trail will wind hundreds of miles from the San Francisco Bay, through wine country and redwood forests, to end along California’s north coast.
Date: November 30, 2018 from 6 – 8pm
Location: Box Dog Bikes, 494 14th St, San Francisco, CA 94103
Westerville, OH Happy Hour
RTC staff, Trailblazer Society Members and supporters enjoyed food and drinks and learned about RTC’s work in OH and across the US. Upcoming projects in the Columbus metro area in 2019 were discussed.
Date: November 8, 2018
Location: Westerville Bike Shop, 29 W Main St, Westerville, OH 43081
2018 Trailblazer Tour on the Katy Trail/Rock Island Trail
Trailblazer Society Members along with RTC staff rode on the famed Katy Trail, including the newly opened Rock Island Spur in Missouri.
Date: June 25-29, 2018
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Duration: Multi-day ride
Circuit Trails Dinner
RTC staff, local partners and fellow Trailblazers enjoyed a special dinner event in Philadelphia to learn more about the Circuit Trails—the 750-mile trail network spanning both sides of the Delaware River.
Date: June 12, 2018
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Erie Canal Towpath Trail & Cleveland Foundation Centennial Lake Link Trail
RTC staff, local partners and fellow Trailblazers had a spring celebration ride along the Cuyahoga River on the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail & Cleveland Foundation Centennial Lake Link Trail.
Date: April 7, 2018
Location: Cleveland, OH
Duration: Half-day ride
Happy Hour at Cleveland’s Brick and Barrel
RTC staff, local partners and fellow Trailblazers met for a special Happy Hour event at Cleveland’s Brick and Barrel.
Date: April 6, 2018
Location: Cleveland, OH
Atlanta Beltway Ride in Atlanta, GA
RTC staff, local partners and fellow Trailblazers rode the newly opened Westside Trail—part of the Atlanta Beltway.
Date: March 19, 2018
Location: Atlanta, GA
Duration: Half-day ride
Virginia Capital Trail Ride in Richmond, VA
RTC staff, local partners and fellow Trailblazers went on a 30-mile ride on the Virginia Capital Trail.
Date: November 17, 2017
Location: Richmond, VA
Duration: Half-day ride
2017 Trailblazer Ride on the Great Allegheny Passage
RTC supporters along with staff members rode on the Great Allegheny Passage between Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Cumberland, Maryland
Date: July 24-28, 2017
Location: Great Allegheny Passage
Duration: Multi-day ride
Millennium Trail Ride in Round Lake, IL
RTC supporters along with staff members from our National and Midwest offices rode on the Millennium Trail.
Date: June 22, 2017
Location: Round Lake, IL
Duration: Half-day ride
Opening Day for Trails Ride in Richmond, CA
RTC joined Rich City RIDES for a bike ride along the Richmond Greenway.
Date: April 8, 2017
Location: Richmond, CA
Duration: Half-day ride
2016 Trailblazer Tour on Route of Hiawatha and the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes
This year’s ride toured the spectacular Route of Hiawatha and the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes in the Idaho panhandle. Mountain vistas, rushing rivers and historic soaring railroad trestles!
Date: July 25-29, 2016
Location: Idaho panhandle
Duration: Multi-day ride
Discover Austin’s Newest Rail-Trail with RTC and Bike Texas
Opened in the fall of 2014, come see why 10 years in the making was worth the wait for the Southern Walnut Creek Hike and Bike Trail in Austin. Ring in spring with a 16-mile jaunt in new territory. With RTC and Bike Texas, you’ll learn how this new connection came to be, how it’s raising the quality of life in the capital, and what’s coming next for Texas trails.
Date: March 26, 2016
Location: Austin, TX
Duration: Half-day ride
Philadelphia: Opening Day on The Circuit Trails
This year on Opening Day for Trails, join the Trailblazer Society in Philadelphia to take part in an exciting celebration of the region’s new trail network: The Circuit!
Date: April 16, 2016
Location: Philadelphia, Pa.
Duration: Half-day event
Pre-Mother’s Day ride on the Great Allegheny Passage
Date: May 7, 2016
Location: Pittsburgh, Pa.
Duration: Half-day event
Rail-Trails Leadership in San Diego
Our event began on a picturesque morning with a visit from San Diego County Supervisor and Rail-Trail Champion Greg Fox, who gave us an overview of the Bayshore Bikeway trail project, a vision more than 20 years in the making. Transportation Planner Stephan Vance then led us on a ride that provided a close-up look at how San Diego is implementing the exciting undertaking. Visits from the Knickerbikers, ferry rides and a macaroni and cheese festival spiced up our tour of the bay.
Date: Nov. 7, 2015
Location: San Diego, Calif.
Duration: Half-day tour
New Trail Connections in Cleveland
RTC’s vision for a nationwide network of trails is building steam in Cleveland! As a focal point of regional trail development efforts, trails in and around Cleveland are gaining a headlining roll in the future of the region. RTC Midwest Director Eric Oberg and Marty Cader of the City of Cleveland Planning Commission led members on a colorful ride from the heart of the city to Independence, OH, highlighting new segments of the Ohio and Eerie Canal Towpath, a critical artery of the Industrial Heartland Trails Coalition’s network.
Date: October 4, 2015
Location: Cleveland, Ohio, area
Duration: Half-day tour
