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6 Great Rail Trails

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Terry
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Good article. The rail trail I ride from Lebanon to Canaan, NH is listed. :yahoo:

 

Steve

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Me too, I can see the first 4 trails. What are the states and names of the 5th and 6th?
 

Bad Bob

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Best use ever for old railroad route. The Hiawatha Trail over Lookout Pass is a contender. Parallels I-90 very good even some trestles to ride.
 

Jim Kenney

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Nice topic, my favorite rail trail in my part of the country is the Great Allegheny Passage from Pittsburgh, PA to Cumberland, MD, ~150 miles.
 

cantunamunch

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Maryland has a gravel one that has like 9 different kinds of gravel, and only one climb. From Baltimore, through Gunpowder Falls, over the Mason Dixon line and on to York, PA. Notable: rafting and drift kayaking in Monkton. Amish-style ice cream all along the route. 44 miles one way.

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newfydog

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One of my favorites is the Kettle Valley Railway in British Columbia. It became famous for the numerous wooden trestles it crosses. When a fire burned down a number of the trestles, it was remarkable (and very Canadian) that funding was raised to rebuild them, just for recreational purposes. It is unfortunate (and very un-Canadian) that illegal quad use has turned much of the trail into a sandbox.
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Steve

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The Island Line starting in Burlington, VT. is amazing. It crosses 4 miles of water on a narrow causeway with a bike ferry to get you around the cut made for boats.
 

Bad Bob

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There was a move afoot to connect a system of rail trails coast to coast in the US. Anybody heard anything about that of recent?
Seemed like that would be an ultimate E-bike trip.
 

johnnyvw

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We did the Missisquoi trail in Northern Vermont a number of years ago. Part of it in the rain, but that made the adventure more interesting (hey, once your wet, you won't get any wetter LOL),,I think we may have seen one or two other people the whole time.
 

dbostedo

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There was a move afoot to connect a system of rail trails coast to coast in the US. Anybody heard anything about that of recent?
Seemed like that would be an ultimate E-bike trip.
You mean this one?


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cantunamunch

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Maybe, but it looks like a great way to spend a summer.

Sorry, I just get triggered when everyone talks up rails-to-trails and then winds up on the federal parkland C&O towpath, that doesn't uphold the R2T principle and doesn't require any work on their part.

We had a thread on ^that trail proposal earlier this summer - the best part looks to be Montana-across-Idaho; that's already ready for you to ride.

Unfortunately the grey zones are not even planned yet. Vaporware.

In that same thread, we discussed projects like this : https://empiretrail.ny.gov/map which looks like a fantastic way to spend a summer until you realise how much time you will be spending on 2 lane no-shoulder roads, the only provision for bikes being Share the Road signs every 5-6 miles, if that. Bureaucratic slight of hand to pander at a lowest level.

One of my projects this summer has been to scout sections of the other local-to-me bureaucratic creation - the East Coast Greenway https://www.greenway.org/route-map Yeah. Giant steaming pile of wishful thinking and signage, and it takes less than 20 minutes avoiding speeding SUVs on Lanham-Severn road to prove it. So the project is to find alternate, safer, neighborhood routes that don't need bureaucrats or official signage, just RWGPS.

Also doesn't count as a rail trail, but herself wants to see it and it looks like Richmond will be cooler this w/e than DC, so https://www.virginiacapitaltrail.org/
 
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scott43

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It is unfortunate (and very un-Canadian) that illegal quad use has turned much of the trail into a sandbox.
Yeah..I think it's certain Canadians..a lot of the sled trails are in danger from folks who ride too fast or stupidly. It ain't the locals..
 

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