Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Touring
Reload this Page >

Trail systems

Search
Notices
Touring Have a dream to ride a bike across your state, across the country, or around the world? Self-contained or fully supported? Trade ideas, adventures, and more in our bicycle touring forum.

Trail systems

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 12-10-18 | 11:18 PM
  #1  
Presser's Avatar
Thread Starter
Frequenchies
 
Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 51
Likes: 0
From: Omahole

Bikes: Bianchi Portofino track conversion, +25ish builds under my belt.

Trail systems

No I’m not talking about local city trails that rin a dozen miles tops, I’m here to hear what trails you know of or have ridden that span more miles, rural, no motorized traffic, scenic, etc. I’ve heard of a few but have only gotten to experience one known as the Wabash Trace (65 miles from Council Bluffs/Omaha to Shenandoah). I’ve ridden it multiple times, makes for good day tripping, camping, and foraging, with its finely crushed limestone path, very few shallow hills to climb and bomb, and lined with streams and canopied tree lines to provide shade through rural farmland and rural woodland, ample wildlife (encountered a rogue mountain lion along it myself it was up in a tree but I startled it as I whizzed past), with small town treasures along the way and plenty of spots to have good robust fun an relax. It connects down to a highway that’ll go straight to KCMO. Anyone know of any trails like this? Long ones that would make interstate cycling a real pleasure?
Presser is offline  
Reply
Old 12-10-18 | 11:26 PM
  #2  
Doug64's Avatar
Senior Member
15 Anniversary
 
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 6,638
Likes: 1,070
From: Oregon
Check out Michigan's Trail systems. They have about 2700 miles of trails; some of them meet your criteria. Also look at Idaho's Trail of the Coeur d' Alenes.

Rails to Trails

Last edited by Doug64; 12-10-18 at 11:38 PM.
Doug64 is offline  
Reply
Old 12-11-18 | 04:55 AM
  #3  
Machka's Avatar
In Real Life
Titanium Club Membership
20 Anniversary
 
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 52,159
Likes: 774
From: Down under down under

Bikes: Lots

Australia's Rail Trails
https://www.railtrails.org.au/
Machka is offline  
Reply
Old 12-11-18 | 04:59 AM
  #4  
Machka's Avatar
In Real Life
Titanium Club Membership
20 Anniversary
 
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 52,159
Likes: 774
From: Down under down under

Bikes: Lots

In this thread, I posted the story of our trip on the longest (or possibly second longest now) rail trail in Victoria. See posts 34, 37 and 38.

2018 - Your Short Tours
Machka is offline  
Reply
Old 12-11-18 | 06:05 AM
  #5  
indyfabz's Avatar
Senior Member
15 Anniversary
Community Builder
Community Influencer
Active Streak: 30 Days
 
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 45,475
Likes: 23,619
Interstate is tough. But for long trails, there are some in MN.

Some specific ones are: The Katy Trail. The Mickelson Trail in SD, which is very scenic but not flat. The Olympian Trail in MT, which is less developed, not flat, but scenic. It connects with the Route of the Hiawatha Trail, which takes you into ID via St. Paul Pass. You can also transfer from the Olympian to the NorPac Trail that will take you across Lookout Pass into ID where you can connect with the Trail of the Couer d'Alene. The NorPac is also more rugged than your typical rail-trail and not flat, but also very pretty. It's technically open to vehicles since and is managed by the U.S.F.S. I saw one car when it rode the MT side. What little traffic there is moves very slowly. The Cd'A trail is paved. And let's not forget the GAP/C&O combination that will take you from Pittsburgh to D.C. In PA there is the D&L system, which has a few gaps in places.
indyfabz is offline  
Reply
Old 12-11-18 | 07:35 AM
  #6  
- Soli Deo Gloria -
 
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 14,779
Likes: 743
From: Northwest Georgia

Bikes: 2018 Rodriguez Custom Fixed Gear, 2017 Niner RLT 9 RDO, 2015 Bianchi Pista, 2002 Fuji Robaix

The Silver Comet Trail

Suburban Atlanta, Georgia to Anniston, Alabama

Silver Comet Trail Photos


-Tim-
TimothyH is offline  
Reply
Old 12-11-18 | 08:31 AM
  #7  
Erick L's Avatar
Lentement mais sûrement
20 Anniversary
 
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,253
Likes: 5
From: Montréal
Quebec has a few trails, the most famous being the 200km Le P'tit Train du Nord. You could make 400-500mile tour with very little road riding, with a shuttle at one end and a train the other. The solid lines are bike paths, the double lines are on road: https://carto.routeverte.com/en

Last edited by Erick L; 12-11-18 at 08:43 AM.
Erick L is offline  
Reply
Old 12-11-18 | 09:27 AM
  #8  
Happy Feet's Avatar
Senior Member
 
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 5,126
Likes: 1,324
From: Left Coast, Canada
BC has the KVR (Kettle Valley Railway), several hundred Km's of rail trail. https://bcrailtrails.com/
You can also travel across most of BC on a semi off road system of trails as noted in this race https://www.bcepic1000.com/

A pic from the KVR

Happy Feet is offline  
Reply
Old 12-11-18 | 09:53 AM
  #9  
rm -rf's Avatar
don't try this at home.
20 Anniversary
 
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 6,220
Likes: 704
From: N. KY
Google Maps bicycle option
google maps shows most every trail, from short ones in city parks to the longest ones.

Pull down the left side menu and select Bicycling.

You have to zoom in to at least the "10 mile" zoom level before the bike trails display.
Zoom way in on trail to see it's name repeated along the line, then you can google that trail name for more info.

For example, southern PA with the GAP trail heading SE from Pittsburgh.
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.2283.../data=!5m1!1e3

What are the solid or dotted lines?
The trail markings don't all have their previous meanings, and there's no info from google itself on the new markings.

previously,
solid green line: a paved trail
solid brown line: unpaved trail
dotted line: a bike lane on a road.

Now:
dashed green line: unpaved trail?
solid dark green line: might be paved or unpaved trail.. why! See the GAP trail around Ohiopyle, some of it is solid, some dashed, but it's all the same unpaved, crushed stone surface.
solid light green line: bike lane on a road
dotted line: bike friendly road. (some are more "friendly" than others, though.)
solid brown: unpaved trail or dirt path.
The current map legend. Doesn't show the dashed lines here.



Street View!
A few trails have Street View, from a bicycle towed camera.
zoom in, drag the yellow "street view guy" onto the map and see if the trail is included.
For example, the Little Miami Trail near Loveland OH:


Last edited by rm -rf; 12-11-18 at 09:59 AM.
rm -rf is offline  
Reply
Old 12-11-18 | 09:57 AM
  #10  
GrainBrain's Avatar
Senior Member
5 Anniversary
 
Joined: Aug 2017
Posts: 2,773
Likes: 720
From: Central Io-way

Bikes: LeMond Zurich, Giant Talon 29er

There's a huge expanse of rail trails in central Iowa, all interconnected. You could easily spend three days in central Iowa riding dedicated trail.
GrainBrain is offline  
Reply
Old 12-11-18 | 10:13 AM
  #11  
rm -rf's Avatar
don't try this at home.
20 Anniversary
 
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 6,220
Likes: 704
From: N. KY
Long trails not yet mentioned:

The Katy Trail
The GAP Trail, Great Allegheny Passage. There's more trails in the Pittsburgh area, too.
The C&O Canal Trail, connects to the GAP trail
The New River Trail, from Galax WV
The Erie Canal Trail, Rochester NY
The Little Miami Trail, Cincinnati to Xenia OH, with interconnects to many other trails. paved.
The Ohio & Erie Towpath trail, south of Cleveland, including Cuyahoga Valley National Park. And more trail south of Akron OH.


Scenic:
The Virginia Creeper Trail. AbingdonVA. 34 miles, extremely scenic, following a mountain creek valley, with whitewater and many bridge crossings. The round trip, 68 miles, is a full day ride, since there's a lot of elevation gain and many scenic stops along the way.

Last edited by rm -rf; 12-11-18 at 10:19 AM.
rm -rf is offline  
Reply
Old 12-11-18 | 01:13 PM
  #12  
cyccommute's Avatar
Mad bike riding scientist
Titanium Club Membership
20 Anniversary
Community Builder
Community Influencer
 
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 29,209
Likes: 6,285
From: Denver, CO

Bikes: Some silver ones, a red one, a black and orange one, and a few titanium ones

Originally Posted by Presser
No I’m not talking about local city trails that rin a dozen miles tops, I’m here to hear what trails you know of or have ridden that span more miles, rural, no motorized traffic, scenic, etc. I’ve heard of a few but have only gotten to experience one known as the Wabash Trace (65 miles from Council Bluffs/Omaha to Shenandoah). I’ve ridden it multiple times, makes for good day tripping, camping, and foraging, with its finely crushed limestone path, very few shallow hills to climb and bomb, and lined with streams and canopied tree lines to provide shade through rural farmland and rural woodland, ample wildlife (encountered a rogue mountain lion along it myself it was up in a tree but I startled it as I whizzed past), with small town treasures along the way and plenty of spots to have good robust fun an relax. It connects down to a highway that’ll go straight to KCMO. Anyone know of any trails like this? Long ones that would make interstate cycling a real pleasure?
Since you appear to be in Omaha, NE, you should check your own back yard first. There the Cowboy Trail from Norfolk to Valentine (and you can realistically, but not officially, ride it to Crawford). There is also the Mo-Pac and Homestead Corridor to the southwest of you. There's also the Steamboat Trace running from Nebraska City south to just south of Brownsville.

Further afield, there's the Katy/Rock Island over in Missouri and the Michelson Trail in South Dakota. There's also the Flint Hills, Kanza and Landon Trail in Kansas.

And, although not "rail trails", there's a rather extensive network here in Colorado. You can ride trail from Denver to Loveland Pass and then ride trails from Keystone to almost Grand Junction going west. South of Denver, there are trails that stretch almost to Colorado Springs and trails north along the Poudre and Platte River. You can also ride trail from Denver to Boulder.

And that just scratches the surface.
__________________
Stuart Black
Dreamin' of Bemidji Down the Mississippi (in part)
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!





cyccommute is offline  
Reply
Old 12-11-18 | 01:25 PM
  #13  
Senior Member
 
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 5,720
Likes: 111
From: North of Boston

Bikes: Kona Dawg, Surly 1x1, Karate Monkey, Rockhopper, Crosscheck , Burley Runabout,

Check out rails to trails .com.
Leebo is offline  
Reply
Old 12-11-18 | 02:20 PM
  #14  
mstateglfr's Avatar
Sunshine
 
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 18,752
Likes: 10,314
From: Des Moines, IA

Bikes: '18 class built steel roadbike, '19 Fairlight Secan, '88 Schwinn Premis , Black Mountain Cycles Monstercross V4, '89 Novara Trionfo

Around you- Cowboy. Michelson. Katy.
or come to central Iowa and ride hundreds of miles of connected trail.
mstateglfr is offline  
Reply
Old 12-11-18 | 07:20 PM
  #15  
hokie cycler's Avatar
Senior Member
 
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 392
Likes: 1
From: Richmond, Virginia

Bikes: 2018 Giant Stance 1, 2011 Trek Madone 3.1, 2004 LeMond Nevada City, 1980 Peugeot Course single speed, 1978 Peugeot AO-8

The Capital Trail in Virginia connects Richmond and Jamestown. 53 miles long.
hokie cycler is offline  
Reply
Old 12-11-18 | 07:25 PM
  #16  
spinnaker's Avatar
Every day a winding road
 
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 6,538
Likes: 63
From: Pittsburgh, PA

Bikes: 2005 Cannondale SR500, 2008 Trek 7.3 FX, Jamis Aurora

Originally Posted by Happy Feet
BC has the KVR (Kettle Valley Railway), several hundred Km's of rail trail. https://bcrailtrails.com/
You can also travel across most of BC on a semi off road system of trails as noted in this race https://www.bcepic1000.com/

A pic from the KVR



I have been very interested in this trail, I seem to get mixed reports on trail surface. Maybe because it is a mixed lot.

I really wouldn't be interested in rough trail. Something similar to the Katy or GAP if you have ever ridden them. Maybe even slightly less quality then that would be OK. Any good sections that fit that bill?
spinnaker is offline  
Reply
Old 12-11-18 | 08:46 PM
  #17  
Happy Feet's Avatar
Senior Member
 
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 5,126
Likes: 1,324
From: Left Coast, Canada
The section around Myra Canyon is well maintained and most the rest is adequate. I haven't done those other trails you mention but this is dirt, rock, sand, ruts etc... but not singletrack or technical. I don't think I'd use a road bike perse as thin tires would wallow but a gravel bike or rigid mtb style tourer with 26x1.75 tires would do fine.

Happy Feet is offline  
Reply
Old 12-12-18 | 01:24 AM
  #18  
Presser's Avatar
Thread Starter
Frequenchies
 
Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 51
Likes: 0
From: Omahole

Bikes: Bianchi Portofino track conversion, +25ish builds under my belt.

Thank you! I’m gonna start looking into a few of these, the closer ones of corse as they would make good week long trips and I’ve got cabin fever ����
Presser is offline  
Reply
Old 12-13-18 | 02:41 PM
  #19  
jefnvk's Avatar
Senior Member
 
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 8,206
Likes: 86
From: Metro Detroit/AA

Bikes: 2016 Novara Mazama

Originally Posted by Doug64
Check out Michigan's Trail systems. They have about 2700 miles of trails; some of them meet your criteria. Also look at Idaho's Trail of the Coeur d' Alenes.

Rails to Trails
Yep, the only caveat to the OPs request being is that there are a lot of connectors between the randomly completed trails, it is hard to ride more than a few dozen miles without following some sort of open-to-motor-vehicle traffic.

That said, I still highly recommend them, and can't wait for the day the Airline Railway and the Iron Belle trail are fully complete.
jefnvk is offline  
Reply
Old 12-20-18 | 01:55 AM
  #20  
Machka's Avatar
In Real Life
Titanium Club Membership
20 Anniversary
 
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 52,159
Likes: 774
From: Down under down under

Bikes: Lots

Originally Posted by Machka
Australia's Rail Trails
https://www.railtrails.org.au/

I just wish Tasmania would get on board.
Machka is offline  
Reply
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
oldguy5
Touring
5
08-23-19 12:15 PM
DonRocinante
Southeast
26
11-29-18 07:40 PM
chrisx
Touring
23
07-10-16 05:20 AM
El_Guapo
Hybrid Bicycles
3
03-27-12 10:11 PM
retnav94
Southeast
19
12-07-10 04:21 PM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off



Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.