June 2019 - Parks & Recreation - 69

RTC's goal is to create a national
route using criteria that prioritize
open trails and the user experience
while bolstering state and local
trail priorities. Therefore, it's no
surprise that the Great American
Rail-Trail route connects several
trail-rich states.
For example, Washington State
is known for many iconic trails, including the 200-miles-plus Palouse
to Cascades State Park Trail (formerly the John Wayne Pioneer
Trail), a popular trail for horse
riders. The group that spearheads
it today, the Palouse to Cascades
Trail Coalition, is working on a
project to bring even more people
together on the trail: the restoration
of the Beverly Bridge.
At its center, the Columbia River
cleaves the trail in two with no safe
way across, so the group's top priority is opening up this historical
railroad bridge over the river. The
bridge's rehabilitation, which will
connect eastern and western Washington, will enhance the trail's role
as a tourism draw for the entire state.
But even states that did not have
a large railroad infrastructure to
build upon for their trail systems
- like Wyoming, which has only 2
percent of the planned route completed in the state - have enthusiastically committed to the idea.
In early 2018, when momentum
for the cross-country trail was just
starting to build, Wyoming Gov.
Matt Mead appointed a task force
to develop recommendations for
active transportation and recreation infrastructure investments.

The group's report encouraged the
state to invest $10 million annually
and includes the Great American
Rail-Trail as a high-priority project
to be supported by state agencies.
Indiana is no stranger to dreaming big either when it comes to
walking and bicycling projects.
When the state created its first
statewide trail plan in 2006, its
goal was to have a trail within 7.5
miles of every Hoosier by 2016.
Ten years later, as the state readied to revise its plan, it found that
the goal was 98 percent achieved,
so a new benchmark was set: to
shorten the distance between trails
and residents to just 5 miles. The
original plan also established an
interconnected web of arterial
trails across Indiana.
" The Great American Rail-Trail
experience will be one of diversity
- in the settings, people and culture of the places it traverses - and
unity, in that it is envisioned to be
a safe, seamless and scenic pathway for all, for recreation, physical
activity and transportation, " says

For a full list of the more
than 125 existing trails
along the Great American
Rail-Trail™, and to read
more about plans for the
completed route, go to
greatamericanrailtrail.org.

Ryan Chao, president of RTC.
" The coordinated effort to complete the trail is yet another element
of what makes it so inspiring. "

Pathway to Opportunities
Nestled within the Great American
Rail-Trail in Ohio is a developing
326-mile route crossing the state
from the shores of one of the country's Great Lakes to the Ohio River.
The Ohio to Erie Trail is a must-see
destination connecting Cleveland,
Columbus and Cincinnati, as well
as some of the state's unique natural and cultural treasures.
" We had new sections of the
Camp Chase Trail open up on the
west side of Columbus, and they
are experiencing pockets of eco-

PHOTO BY MATTHEW NISSEN

A Big Dream with
Its Feet on the Trail

The Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bridge is a
3,000-foot footbridge across the Missouri
River between Council Bluffs, Iowa, and
Omaha, Nebraska.

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Parks & Recreation

June 2019 - Parks & Recreation

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