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Longest Rail-Trails in the United States *This list is comprised of rail-trails more than 100 miles long, where at least 90 percent of the trail is on a former railroad corridor. Katy Trail State Park — Missouri: 240 miles; Palouse to Cascades States Park Trail — Washington: 229 miles; Cowboy Trail — Nebraska: 219 miles
Open: 2,401 open rail-trails for a total of 25,737 miles Projects: 869 rail-trail projects for a total of 9,152 miles. State Rail-Trail and Trail Mileage Counts. To view state specific stats, use this map and select your state. Longest Rail-Trails in America *This list is comprised of rail-trails more than 100 miles long, where at least 90 ...
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The preferred route of the Great American Rail-Trail connects 150+ existing rail-trails, greenways and other multiuse paths spanning more than 3,700 miles. These trails are hosting the Great American through their communities, making possible this grand vision of a nation connected by trails. And with more than 52% of the route already on the ...
- Empire State Trail
- Katy Trail
- Greater Yellowstone Trail
- Cowboy Trail
- Great Allegheny Passage
- Paul Bunyan State Trail
- Olympic Discovery Trail
- George S. Mickelson Trail
- Little Miami Scenic Trail
- Greenbrier River Trail, West Virginia
750 miles: NYC to Buffalo and Rouses Point, New York
When New York’s impressive Empire State Trail officially opened in late 2020, it took the title of the longest multi-use trail in the country. Much of this route follows repurposed railroad beds and crosses through scenic stretches of the Hudson River Valley and the Adirondacks region. The routeis 75 percent off-road, and 25 percent on-road, with the former sections largely made up of stone dust and asphalt.
240 miles: Machens to Clinton, Missouri
Scenery and history abound along this trail. More than half of the route follows Lewis and Clark’s path up the Missouri River, where pastoral farmland, rolling rivers, and small-town Americana make for an ideal snapshot of Midwestern charm. This crushed-limestonetrail, one of the longest in the country, links 26 trailheads across the former Missouri-Kansas-Texas railroad.
180 miles: Grand Teton to Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Roughly 70 percent of the highly anticipated 180-mile Greater Yellowstone Trail is currently ready for riders. This project, launched in 2015, will connect two of the region’s most famed national parks: Grand Teton and Yellowstone. The corridor of paved and gravel terrain will also connect with the Continental Divide Scenic Trail, promising a slew of long-distance adventures along a single route.
203 miles: Valentine to Norfolk, Nebraska
The Cowboy Trail consists of 189 crushed-gravel miles between Valentine and Norfolk, Nebraska, with an additional 14 miles between Gordon and Rushville. It follows an old agricultural rail route known as the Cowboy Line, which connects more than 200 bridges, native prairies, and grassy dunes—all signature scenes of the Cornhusker State. Highlights include a view of the Niobrara National Scenic River near Valentine, plus Sandhills, the western hemisphere’s largest grass-covered dunes, located...
150 miles: Cumberland, Maryland to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Following rolling peaks and pastoral landscapes, this route winds through the Cumberland Narrows gorge, across the historic Mason-Dixon line, and along the Laurel Highlands and Ohiopyle State Park, where waterfalls and gorges abound. Trail towns dot the crushed-limestone path roughly every 10 miles, ensuring that bike packers have plenty of lodging and dining options.
119 miles: Bemidji to Brainerd, Minnesota
Minnesota’s longest paved bike trail shows how the state earned its “land of 10,000 lakes” motto. The path travels by more than 20 lakes and 10 rivers and streams on its journey from Lake Bemidji State Park to Brainerd’s Crow Wing State Park, 130 miles north of Minneapolis. More than 15 trail townsfall along the route, and a canopy of aspens, maples, and oaks shade the way.
90 miles: Port Townsend to Sappho, Washington
This under-development route links some of the Pacific Northwest’s most jaw-dropping landscapes, from craggy coasts to mossy valleys and cerulean lakes, not to mention Washington’s crown jewel: Olympic National Park. The path is currently around 90 miles long, with several intermittent breaks in the path as it continues to be built. Once fully completed, it will connect nearly 140 miles from the Puget Sound to the Pacific.
109 miles: Deadwood to Edgemont, South Dakota
Expect commanding Black Hills vistas along this rail trail of crushed-stone. The route crosses almost 100 converted railroad bridges, and weaves through Black Hills National Forest. It also hits gold-rush and mining-town remnants and iconic landmarks, including Wind Cave National Parkand Mount Rushmore.
78 miles: Cincinnati to Springfield, Ohio
This scenic trail proves Ohio’s more than a flyover state. The paved multi-use path begins just southeast of Cincinnati, and stretches north through a series of green spaces before weaving through suburbs like the local outdoor-adventure haven of Loveland. It also cuts through the 2,800-acre Caesar Creek State Park and the hippie-hub Yellow Springs, where the Yellow Springs Breweryabuts the path.
77 miles: Cass to Caldwell, West Virginia
This ride packs in the best of West Virginia, including 35 bridges, a smattering of quaint small towns, and two tunnels. But these highlights are largely overshadowed by one of the most intriguing sections of any U.S. rail trail: the National Radio Quiet Zone. In this 13,000-square-mile expanse in the eastern corner of the state, cell signals are restricted to protect the colossal Green Bank Telescope, which astronomers use to “eavesdrop” on space.
- Stephanie Vermillion
- 103 McDaniel Ave, Greenville, SC 29601, USA
- The Beltline, Georgia. Atlanta was named for the Western-Atlantic Railroad that had its terminus in the city. In 1999, a graduate student proposed turning the many disused rail corridors into a path around the city, The Beltline, which finally came to fruition in 2013 through federal grants.
- Silver Comet Trail/Chief Ladiga Trail, Alabama and Georgia. This path spans 94 miles across two states, forming the second-longest paved rail trail in the nation.
- Iron Horse Regional Trail, California. Address. Iron Horse Regional Trail, Dublin, CA, USA. Located outside of San Francisco, the Iron Horse Regional Trail links 12 cities in an urban rail-to-trail.
- Tammany Trace, Louisiana. Address. Tammany Trace Bike Trail, Covington, LA, USA. Built along the former Illinois Central Railroad rail line, the Tammany Trace is a 31-mile trail between Covington and Slidell, on the Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans.
Denton Branch Rail Trail, 8 mile trail. Harrisburg-Sunset Trail, 5 mile trail in Houston. Katy Trail, a 3.5 mile recreational trail that runs along the abandoned right-of-way of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (Katy) Railroad in Dallas. Lake Mineral Wells State Trailway, a 20-mile trail 50 miles west of Fort Worth.
Jul 6, 2021 · With more than 18,000 miles of rail-trails in existence, rails-to-trails surpasses the combined mileage of the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and all other national scenic trails. The rails-to-trails movement has forever changed the way in which Americans use trails.
