There are many ways, and many steps needed, to turn a track with steel rails and spikes, wooden sleepers and stone ballast into a smooth, inviting bike route.
There are many ways, and many steps needed, to turn a track with steel rails and spikes, wooden sleepers and stone ballast into a smooth, inviting bike route. But while the rails-to-trails movement started in the ‘60s, it got a major boost in 1986 with the development of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, a national organization that has helped local communities plan, fund-raise and execute their own trail development. Now, Rails-to-Trails is largely focused on connectivity — linking already existing trails (over 25,000 miles of them) to create bike networks that span the country, namely, the Great American Rail Trail, which will cross the country from Washington, D.C., to Washington State. Other long-distance projects include Peaks to Plains in Colorado, the Great Redwood Trail in Northern California, and the Route of the Badger in Wisconsin.