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You mightn't think it, but writing about trails can be a pretty life-affirming experience. More often than not, the stories of how our trails get built are stories about community spirit, the volunteer ethic, neighbors helping neighbors and local people using plenty of elbow grease, ingenuity and determination to build something of long-lasting good. My story that we just launched at www.railstotrails.org on Connecticut's Shoreline Greenway Trail was like that. Interviewing the many local volunteers...

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's decades of trail-building experience have shown us that trails have the greatest beneficial impact when they connect to things - to towns, attractions, to businesses and to other trails. Which is why our Northeast Regional Office has spent the past couple of years working on a feasible route and work plan to complete the final section of the 150-mile Liberty-Water Gap Trail , which travels across New Jersey and into Pennsylvania. That feasibility study and recommendation...

We see it more and more these days - rail-trails as economic development assets. Cities and towns across America are developing rail-trail networks in order to make their area more attractive, drawing new residents and businesses and providing an environment where people want to live. We are also seeing entrepreneurs finding business opportunities connected to destination rail-trails - lodging, services and other operations are launching next to rail-trails from Maine to California. Like this one...

In the township of Springfield, in eastern Pennsylania, local trail supporters were able to hire an engineering firm to help them build a bridge on the Indian Creek Hike & Bike Trail. Across the state in Dunbar, the local historical society got the small amount of money it needed to build two sheltered picnic tables and install them alongside the Sheepskin Trail. In Pittsburgh, Friends of the Riverfront was able to pay for the design and installation of six new map signs and two interpretive...

Driven by a supportive governor and a forward-thinking state department of transportation that is conscious of the role of biking and walking in modern planning, Connecticut has done some great things in recent years to connect, and expand, its network of trails. A key state in the plan to connect the burgeoning 3,000-mile-long East Coast Greenway from Maine to Florida, since 2011 Connecticut has built important sections that were once obstinate gaps in the system -- along the Charter Oak Trail through...

The state of Pennsylvania continues to build upon and improve its already impressive rail-trail network. Millersburg Borough is this week celebrating the news that a "gaming grant," funded by revenue from state-licensed casinos, will fund the continued construction of the Lykens Valley Rail Trail , a planned 20-mile multi-use trail that's been under development for about 10 years. Just a stone's throw from RTC's Northeast regional office in Camp Hill, the development of this rail-trail along the...

By Jake Lynch With the people of Aquidneck Island, R.I., keen to improve their amenities for walking and biking, they've called on Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) to examine the feasibility of a rail-with-trail along a line currently used for tourist service. RTC's Manager of Trail Development in the Northeast, Carl Knoch , led a public presentation for the Aquidneck Island Planning Commission and Bike Newport last week on the viability of rail-with-trail projects, and opportunities to ensure the...