The Great American Rail Trail
 

https://gis.railstotrails.org/grtamerican/

OK this looks like it could be fun. Imagine an App Trail for bikes. I might could be up for at least the eastern part of this.

We have a lot of rails turned to trails around us. It's great fun to explore them by bike because they generally pass through landscapes that we don't easily see by car. I've learned though that just because there are few steep grades, they aren't necessarily easy to ride. Those grades are often stretched over a long, long distance -- so one way may be much more tiring than the other. Plan your route wisely with that consideration :)

Thing about a RR right of way, you are never going to see much of a grade. That can be a positive or a negative I think. I like the concept, and hope it gets people off their asses. There are rail to trail places in California, I am pretty sure, not part of that project I guess.

I am a bit spoiled maybe, but that is not the sort of riding I like to do.

We've had a few rail->trail conversions here in Florida for 30+ years. And you ain't gonna see much of a grade anywhere in Florida

Hiawatha Trail is near my hometown. A friend had the contract to remove and salvage the rails. Another friend had/has a bike shop and ferries people to the top. Could be the most breathtaking bike ride in the nation. 15 miles long, ten tunnels, seven high trestles. 5162 ft elevation at the top. The tunnel at the top is 1.66 miles long.

https://www.ridethehiawatha.com/buy-passes-and-rentals

I'd add that I didn't have the best bike for rail trails. My commuter bike needed some suspension. My hard tail mountain bike was a bit too slow. I suspect my full suspension 29er mountain bike would be better . . . but I haven't tried.

A gravel bike would be ideal, but I don't have the budget for it, and I prefer cross-country mountain biking to the rail trails.

Jeez, Wyoming - get your head in the game! You're dragging the whole project down!


I'm lucky that there's a couple of converted shortline railways close by where I live, one of them is Banks-Vernonia; It's a really nice, long paved trail with great sightlines so you can get a nice pace going and feel safe that you're not going to endanger yourself or others. The other that I'm a frequent flier on is the Crown Zellerbach trail, also an old logging railroad that's been converted to a gravel trail.

Both are well maintained and very popular.

As I'm getting older, these rail trail things make more sense. I've converted my 1980's mtb's into dolled up touring bikes. They are complete opposites of my drop bar setups. Sit up and enjoy the view. I like em' better than some of my fancy stuff. Rails to trails- Nearby is the Greenbrier river trail in WV, about 85 miles one way, and north is C&O GAP trail, I think like 300 miles or so (the eastern part of the map- from DC to pittsburg). They go through some great places. Few people, no cars, no need for helmets, etc. Plenty of bed and breakfast places on the way. I spent the better part of the summer credit card camping and such. It's one thing to visit DC, it's another thing to ride into it from WV, and meet up with the family for dining and fancy hotel on the potomac, spend a day in DC, and turn around and ride back. There is a similar trail going into NYC from NY I'm thinking as a bucket list ride. I'd take detours on some of these trips and head high into the mountains (well- as high as east coast mountains are high).
Good stuff.

My head would explode if I went out west! :)



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Great pictures!

^ Thanks.This is a good video showing the eastern portion of the CO/GAP portion of the Flattbutt's map, what's involved, and what you see. This video inspired my trip earlier this summer.

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Since retiring (10 years ago), I have ridden almost all of the Rail Trails in MI...except for a couple on the north side of Detroit.
Three trips to CO for RT's...rented bikes each time. Have done RT's in IL, IN, OH, and a good share on the gulf side of FL.

A road bike is not good for most trails. The expansion joints and tree root ridges will kill your back.

There's a monthly mag called Rails-To_Trails that highlights diff trails each month....worthwhile reading.

That reminds me of the Kennet canal that heads west from the Thames river in Reading, UK. Some of us spend more than a few trips a year out there to visit Aldermaston and Burghfield (the UK's "Los Alamos" and "Pantex"). You could make a decent weekend transiting from Reading to (I think?) Bristol. Gentle grades, riverside pubs every few miles - some with lodging and at least in that case it's never too far from the GW trainline so there's usually a close bail-out option. Now just to get my bike to fit in the overhead bin of an airliner.

Beer, bikes, waterways... what could go wrong?

I'd like to try a "ride thru" on the eastern side camping or moteling wherever I can.

That would take quite a while to ride. But I'm sure it'd be amazing.

Last June I did the Va Creeper Trail. We shuttled to the top and rode to Damascus. Still plenty of pedaling, but not hard at all. We had beers while coasting. :D

Virginia Creeper Trail - Best Bike Trail in the U.S.A. - Rails-to-Trails Hall of Fame

Then I had a Hillbilly Reuben at the Damascus Diner. It was pulled pork, topped with turnip greens with some sort of jam/jelly on grilled sourdough. It was delicious.

And Damascus is a gorgeous, the Appalachian Trail goes right through town.

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We walked a few miles down & back up the Carrizo Gorge railway in January. It was nice since we'd not been there - was uneventful, relaxing, & picturesque. The length to the bottom of the grade (or up) is eleven miles. A decent number of people do that and weekends are sometimes crowded. We only saw about six people the day we went. Some have gone down or up on rail carts and posted videos. Looked like fun.

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Nice places for recreation. But would be so much cooler if you could still hop on those trains and go places. The loss of our once elaborate and extremely functional rail transport systems should be lamented.

Agreed. Shame to see it gone, especially on a nationwide scale. That said, there are some small stretches being kept open. This is a section of greenbrier river trail north from Cass WV to durbin wv. that just got reopened after years of being closed. It's the northern section of the same line which has been converted to trail- but- it's still tracks- which is super cool. The train (a steam engine) will drop you off at campsites and pick you up the next day, and will even drop you off with a caboose as a cabin- I think.

The maintenance is intense.I think most done by hand/volunteer. Just keeping the treefall clear is a real chore, nevermind all the rotting ties. When the tracks get flooded out, it really is a mess. Miles and miles. I can't even be bothered to trim the liriope in my front yard. I couldn't imagine, but if I won the lottery, I'd probably spend it all restoring stuff like this. Here's one section:


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Around here, the maintenance and clean-up is all done by volunteers on the Rails to Trails.
After heavy winds or leaves falling, I usually see a pick-up truck with a yard blower mounted to the front. They always carry a chain saw for anything of size.

If I lived next to one and had a truck, I would volunteer. I donate every year to Rails to Trails Conservancy because of the amount of enjoyment I get from the trails.

I like your MTB build. Reminds me of my Rawland cSogn, one of my everyday-use bikes. I’ve had it since 2009, though I only put the Albatross bars on it a few years ago.

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