March 2025 Newsletter
RTC’s TrailNation™ Collaborative is a multidisciplinary learning community for anyone interested in working in trail and active transportation. Join the email list.
Tips to Prepare for Celebrate Trails Day
Celebrate Trails Day is just over a month and a half away! Each year, partners like you help bring this springtime celebration of America’s trails to life by offering great events and programming that get people outside.
We hope you will invite as many people as possible to join the celebration on Saturday, April 26, and grow appreciation for the nation’s trails and trail networks and the ways they make lives better.
To help encourage participation and amplify the impact of Celebrate Trails Day, we’re offering a variety of resources to help our partners prepare, including advocacy tips and promotional materials. Visit the partner section of our Celebrate Trails Day page to explore these resources and to share your event plans.
Registration Now Open: Join Us at the TrailNation™ Summit in Cleveland, Ohio!
Rails to Trails Conservancy’s TrailNation Summit is where the vision of trail networks at the center of healthy, thriving communities becomes a reality.
Register now to join us Oct. 27–29, 2025, when RTC will gather 500 trail network visionaries, innovators and practitioners from across the country for two days of dynamic mobile workshops, immersive learning opportunities, strategic conversations, and relationship building to unlock the power of trail networks for communities nationwide.
Upcoming TrailNation Collaborative Events
In response to your feedback, many of this year’s TrailNation Collaborative events will be focused on helping you access BIL funding. Our webinars and interactive online dialogues will provide opportunities to connect with other trail experts and advocates, all while giving you the tools and resources you need to take advantage of this critical moment. Mark your calendars for the virtual events coming up this year!
When Disaster Strikes: The Role of Trails in Planning and Recovery
Thursday, April 3 | Register Here
International Trails Summit (Madison, Wisconsin)
Monday, April 14—Thursday, April 17 | Register Here
ITS TrailNation Collaborative Happy Hour co-sponsored by SmithGroup!
Wednesday, April 16 | RSVP Here
Celebrate Trails Day (in your community)
Saturday, April 26 | Learn More
TrailNation Summit (Cleveland, Ohio)
Monday, Oct. 27—Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025 | Register Here
Funding Opportunities
APPLY TODAY: Local Data for Equitable Communities Program
Deadline: Tuesday, March 18
The Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation will select 30 nonprofits to each receive a $50,000 grant to use data to improve local conditions and help residents live their healthiest lives. The program helps nonprofits use data to catalyze local action and address inequities in the physical, economic and social conditions of a place.
T-Mobile Hometown Grants
Deadline: Monday, March 31
Main Street America is partnering with T‑Mobile to provide grants of up to $50,000 to communities with populations of 50,000 or less to build stronger, more prosperous small towns and rural communities.
Get more information about funding sources for trails and active transportation on RTC’s Federal Funding Resources page.
Resources
RTC: Bay Area Trails Collaborative Art Programming on Trails
This Trail Talk webinar from RTC’s Bay Area Trails Collaborative featured a panel of experts that discussed placemaking on trails through art and best practices for arts/trails programming.
Transportation Safety for Tribes: Pedestrian Safety in Tribal Areas
This study report discusses available resources and provides new tools for Tribal agencies and others who may be involved with pedestrian safety to help determine high-risk areas within Tribal communities, identify potential safety improvements and prioritize potential improvements or locations.
NACTO: Urban Bikeway Design Guide, Third Edition
The updated edition of the Urban Bikeway Design Guide will help city leaders and street designers meet the needs of our time. New topics address critical gaps, including planning and project development. Contextual guidance for bikeway design encompasses the needs of a wider swath of potential riders, across genders, ages, races, ethnicities, incomes and abilities.
Rails to Trails Conservancy Webinars From the Archive
Miss a recent webinar or online dialogue? You can find free access to all our recent RTC virtual events in the webinar archive or Resource Library on our website. This includes the newest addition to our TrailNation Playbook in Action series, Building Investment Strategies That Unlock Funding, which is designed to spark your imagination for vibrant and inclusive trail programming!
Other Events You Won’t Want to Miss!
Center for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety: The Human Case for Fewer Cars in Our Lives
Tuesday, March 18
American Trails: Connecting Recreational Benefits With Transmission Corridors
Thursday, March 20
American Trails: Vegetation Design for Trailbuilders
Thursday, March 27
The Great Trails State Coalition: Telling the Story With Trail Data
Wednesday, April 2
Tools for Collaborative Members
Get access to all the resources you need to create a vibrant trail network for your community—from funding opportunities to technical assistance.