__NOTOC__ The Great American Rail-Trail is a planned cross-country

rail trail A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a Right of way#Rail right of way, railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed but may also share the rail corr ...

in the United States. The trail will run between

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

in the east and the state of

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

in the west. The planned trail is already more than 53% complete, with over 2,000 completed miles on the ground. The trail runs through 12 states and the District of Columbia, and will be within of 50 million Americans. The work is being facilitated by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy. The Great American Rail-Trail is composed of over 150 existing multi-use trails with about 90 gaps to be filled. The project was launched in May 2019.

Route

The trail overlaps several long distance rail trails for part or all of their route. From west to east, they include: * Olympic Discovery Trail, Washington *

Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail The Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail, formerly known as the John Wayne Pioneer Trail and the Iron Horse Trail, is a rail trail that spans most of the U.S. state of Washington. It follows the former railway roadbed of the Chicago, Milwaukee ...

, Washington * Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes, Idaho *Olympian Trail, Montana *Headwaters Trail System, Montana *Casper Rail Trail, Wyoming *

Cowboy Trail The Cowboy Trail is a rail trail in northern Nebraska. It is a multi-use recreational trail suitable for bicycling, walking and horseback riding. It occupies an abandoned Chicago and North Western Railway corridor. When complete, the trail wil ...

, Nebraska * Cedar Valley Trail, Iowa *

Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park The Hennepin Canal State Trail, also just called the Hennepin Canal, is an abandoned waterway in northwest Illinois, between the Mississippi River at Rock Island and the Illinois River near Hennepin. The entire canal is listed on the National ...

, Illinois *Illinois and Michigan Canal Trail, Illinois * Nickel Plate Trail, Indiana * Cardinal Greenway, Indiana *

Little Miami Scenic Trail The Little Miami Scenic Trail is the fourth longest paved trail in the United States, running through five southwestern counties in the state of Ohio. The multi-use rail trail sees heavy recreational use by hikers and bicyclists, as well as th ...

, Ohio * Ohio to Erie Trail, Ohio *

Panhandle Trail The Panhandle Trail is a rail trail in southern Pennsylvania and the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia. It occupies an abandoned Conrail railroad corridor that had been known as the Panhandle route which has been converted to a bicycle and wal ...

, West Virginia *

Great Allegheny Passage The Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) is a rail trail A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a Right of way#Rail right of way, railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the t ...

, Pennsylvania and Maryland *C&O Towpath Trail, Maryland *

Capital Crescent Trail The Capital Crescent Trail (CCT) is a , shared-use rail trail that runs from Georgetown in Washington, D.C., to Bethesda, Maryland. An extension of the trail from Bethesda to Silver Spring along a route formerly known as the Georgetown Branch ...

, Maryland and D.C.

References

Notes

Citations

General references

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External links