Ken Brown

I have been riding rail trails since 1995. I have been on about 50 in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Florida, perhaps others. My website is Ontario Rail Trails at https://webhome.idirect.com/~brown/

Someone mentioned the Erie Canal and I consider canal trails to be as good as rail trails. Have cycled on the C&O canal many times, the Erie a couple of times.

donheff

My wife and I look for them when we are traveling. For example, on a recent trip to Boston we stopped at a B&B in the Farmington Valley and rode a trail there. Rode from Baltimore up to York PA and back; ride the WO&D from home frequently. We always look for trails long enough for a good out and back round trip or a stop at a B&B after a day, then back the next. We planned a trip to the Laurention Mountains trail last year but had to cancel. They have good options for leaving you car at one end and then biking back from the other stopping at B&Bs.

If anyone does a really fun cross country (or other) trip from trail to trail, please post your itinerary for others of us who are interested to consider.

Ken Brown

Don, following are links to two reports where we used shuttle services:

The best bike ride in America
https://www.bikeforums.net/fifty-plus-50/302572-best-bike-ride-america.html

Le P’tit Train du Nord
https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/112056-tour-report-le-p-tit-train-du-nord.html

Being from DC you are obviously familiar with the C&O Canal, and the other is the one you mention in the Laurention Mountains. I recently saw a poll where Amtrak is considering carrying bikes between DC and Pittsburgh:
https://www.examiner.com/x-2429-Bicyc...-Amtrak-survey

tcs

I've found trails in the USA to be a mixed bag. Some have been as close to heaven-on-a-bicycle as I could imagine, others have been ill conceived, poorly executed, badly maintained, paved in deep sand/mud/loose rock/goathead thorns, shared with other users who had a distain for both nature and humanity and even paralleling much nicer, quiet, scenic country roads. I'd love to ride any trail I got a good report on from a rider I knew, but I don't think I'd head off on an unfamiliar trail or one that came recomended only by a local tourist board or CoC.

I've heard good things about the trails in Germany, and I'd like to ride on some of them and also some Sustrans routes the UK.

tcs

Terrierman

Had a very nice and relaxing Saturday morning ride on the Frisco Highline trail, Springfield MO, where the trail starts (or ends, depending) to Wimpy's corner. A nice breakfast of two pancakes, (extra dark and crispy at the edges, mmmm) one egg and one sausage patty, then back to the trailhead. Great way to spend three hours if I do say so myself.

I trust that qualifies as a yes.

RepWI

Menomonie. I live about two miles from the trail head. There is a city trail four blocks from my home that connects to the Red Cedar.

tcs

Our cycling group got a letter from local equestrians explaining how their horses are easily spooked by small, quiet bicycles and we should stand stone-still to the side of the trail as they amble past.

We forwarded the letter to our local July 4th parade organizers and suggested they ban horses from the parade before a child was trampled and the city got sued. The equestrians replied indignantly that their horses were perfectly safe and predictable around fire truck sirens, marching bands and parade floats that shot clouds of steam.

tcs

maddmaxx 

I have always assumed that horses and pedestrians have the right of way on trails. The trails are multi use.......they have to be for the finances to flow. The other users pay taxes just as I do. We need to accomodate each other.

Most bike groups advise stopping and dismounting in the presence of horses. At the very least, request permission to pass.

wonderbread

My wife and have used Ken Brown's website for a lot of riding. (Thanks Ken). Wish we had more of those rail trails up here.

BluesDawg

There are no rail trails close to where I live. I have ridden the Silver Comet Trail out of Atlanta and the Chief Ladiga Trail which connects to the Silver Comet at the Alabama border. I only get up there once or twice a year as it is about a 3 hr. drive each way. I find them relaxing and great for encouraging more people to get out and ride or walk, but given a choice I would rather ride on a low traffic rural road like the ones right out of my driveway.

There is an abandoned railway that runs within a short ride from my house which has been talked about converting to a rail trail for several years. I would use it as it would run right by where I work, eliminating some big hills and terrible morning traffic. Many people think it would be a great idea, but nobody can come up with a way to raise millions of $ to make it happen. There is not enough support from local taxpayers to support even the matching funds required to get available grants.

kjc9640

We love to ride the trails (my daughter and I) Our goal is to ride every trail in Florida.
Below are the completed rides:

Cady Way Trail, Orlando
Cross Seminole Trail, Seminole County
Ft Desoto, not a designated R to T but a nice bike path
James Van Fleet, Polk County
Lake Mineola, Lake County
The Legacy, Sarasota
Pinellas Trail, Pinellas County
Rinehart Road crossing, Lake Mary
Seminole Wekiva Trail, Seminole County
Sun Coast Trail, Tampa
VABI Trail, Sarasota
West Orange Trail, Orange county
The Withlacoochee Trail, Our favorite
Flagler Beach trail, Flagler County

daredevil

You mentioned Idaho. I just got back from the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes in northern Idaho, a 72 mile trail across the pan handle. East to west a slight downhill grade, west to east, typically a tail wind. Can't lose. Loved it.

borgagain

I thoroughly enjoyed my ride on the feeder canal section of the D&R Canal Park Path in NJ.

https://backroom.hardsdisk.net/canalpath.html

It's a well groomed path, suitable for a rigid MTB or hybrid and just long enough for a good fix. I'm hoping to do it again soon.

will dehne

That seems to be a problem in much of Europa.
Germany has beautiful bike paths along rivers. On weekends they are so crowded that it is no fun for fast road cyclists. We took hybrids and that is OK. Road cyclists must content with very fast moving car traffic to do their sport.
Germany has a population density of 85 Million in an area smaller then Montana. Just imagine that.
England is not better and Holland, Belgium is worse.
Depending on the area, the USA is sparsely populated. The MUP from Reedsburg, WI to Trempealeau, WI is 100 miles long. I go there in September during the week. It is not unusual to see less then 10 bikers over 100 miles at that time of the year.
Some of us like that. It is great to be on your own in nature and deal with it.
Europa has some nice features but this is one where the USA exceeds.

DnvrFox

Disagree.

Around here, horses have the right-of-way, and there is a reason for that - they ARE easily spooked, unless well trail trained.

I wonder about a club that can't stop for a moment to pass horses safely. Is speed really that important, especially on a MUP?

You might think of it as forced interval training. Go fast, stop for horse, go fast . . .

will dehne

Just for general information.
The rules for horses are not uniform. In Wisconsin they are not allowed on the trails because they chew up the limestone surface. Some trails have a strip with grass just for horses. They go sometimes anyway on the trail and damage it.
Florida is also telling horses to stay of the thinly paved trails. Same problem that they damage the trails. Some FL trails have separate paths for horses.
Illinois has few horses on trails that I have seen.
I ride a Road bike. Horses seem to be OK with that assuming I go slow and as far away from them as I can. There was one occasion where a horse ran away from the owner galloping at full speed toward us. A horse is a lot of mass in motion. Seeing that mass running toward you can be scary and it was. That horse decided not to run into us.

Neil_B

I just got back from riding one - the Pine Creek Trail, through what's known as "Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon."

Tom Bombadil

With that avatar ... have you ridden the rail trails in and around Morgantown, WV? I have. They are really nice. One runs beside the Monongahela River all the way to Prickett's Fort, near Fairmont. A truly beautiful ride, as you are surrounded by hills as you ride on the old railroad bed that was cleared off on the river banks. It's about a 40 mile round trip from downtown Morgantown.

Tom B. B.S., M.S. Statistics, WVU 1973-1979

cooker

I posted my experience riding the Caledon trail a few weeks ago. It's just a straight shot of about 34km and not spectacularily scenic, but pleasant enough. Most of the road crossings are pretty easy.

https://www.bikeforums.net/eastern-canada/560850-caledon-trail-ride-report.html

Right within the City of Toronto, the trail in Moore Park ravine and the Kay Gardner beltline park are part of an old trolley route. I've marked the original rail route on this map, but not all of it is preserved, so here and there you would have to do detours around obstructions, and there are a lot of street crossings.

78fujis10s

The longest rail trail in the State of Michigan passes through my little town of Rockford. to date about 35% of it is paved, but that is due to change because some local billionaire is funding the pavement of the whole thing. Anyway I do ride it quite often. It reaches far north of here where i can access paved roads that have very minimal auto traffic on them. This makes training on the bicycle very nice.

tcs

What exactly are you disagreeing with in my post?

Best,
tcs

kjc9640

Tom,
No we haven't had the pleasure of riding any trails in WV but we plan to change that next spring. When I was growing up their all of my riding was on the highways. No such thing as a R to T then. Over the years when I would return to WV (Parkersburg) it was just time spent with family. Now the family is gone so we (wife, daughter and I) plan a trip next spring to do some serious riding in Gods Country.

kr32

We have a new one that is almost complete, 2-3 miles left which will make a 13 mile one way trail. I use it as an expressway back home after a 25 -30 mile ride making the return a little easier. It is nice as I am there later in the day after work and it is rather less traveled and there are deer and wildlife along it so it is very peaceful.

stapfam

Not many horses on our MUP but on the road and offroad trails there are plenty. I once had a horse be spooked by me from about 100yards back so I now take a couple of things in mind whenever I come across a horse. If from the front- slow down and see if the rider is happy. If from the rear- I start talking to myself or ride partners from way back. If the horse knows I am there- it may turn and look at me but normally the rider turns and thanks me for considerate cycling.

But just like every other group- there are horse riders that should not be there. I once gave warning to a rider from 50 yards back when I came round a corner fast and saw him in front of me- only to get a load of abuse about inconsiderste Cyclists

AdrianL

Here in Louisiana, horses and pedestrians have the right of way on the trails I have been on. The good news is that there are side grass trails in many places and there are not many horses on the trails.

BTW - unless a horse is specially trained, it will do just about anything it can not to collide with a human even in most panic situations. They will also do just about anything they can to keep from stepping on a human, again, unless specially trained to do so. That does not mean they will not kick you though .