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posted Sep 10, 2023

Why Trails Matter: Outdoor Learning

by American Trails Staff

Getting outside can help you learn, and trails play a critical role in accessing natural places and learning to love them.


posted Aug 23, 2023

Trails For All Americans

by National Park Service

What would it take for all Americans to be able to go out their front doors and within fifteen minutes be on trails that wind through their cities, towns or villages and bring them back without retracing steps?


posted Aug 9, 2023

Why Trails Matter: Resilience to Wildfire

by American Trails Staff

Trails connect suburban and rural communities to wild places, and they can play an important role in landscape resilience, as wildfire becomes more frequent in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) where homes are increasingly being built.


posted Apr 12, 2023

Trails and Resilience: Review of the Role of Trails in Climate Resilience and Emergency Response

by Federal Highway Administration

Trails are often overlooked as elements of essential infrastructure for a resilient transportation system.1 In emergencies where other transportation facilities are shut down or inaccessible, people may use trails to get where they need to go.


posted Feb 14, 2023

Public Lands and the Continental Divide Trail Study

by Continental Divide Trail Coalition

The primary goal of this study was to understand who uses the Continental Divide Trail (CDT), how they use it, their preferences, and the economic impact of the CDT in the region. Additional data were also collected regarding protecting public lands and using the Continental Divide Trail in Colorado.


posted Jan 25, 2023

Trail Etiquette When Mud is Present

by Lora Goerlich with Equestrian Trails and Facilities Consultant LLC

Mud season, Mother Nature’s torment to those who seek solace in nature.


posted Jan 9, 2023

Book Review of From Rails to Trails: The Making of America’s Active Transportation Network

by Jim Schmid

This book covers the political, cultural, transportation, design, and land-use issues that have shaped the rail-trail movement.


posted Aug 31, 2022

Trail Terms

by Jim Schmid

Trail, Greenway, and Outdoor Recreation Terms


posted Aug 17, 2022

Pacific Crest Train Assn. Crew Leadership: Managing Volunteers

by Pacific Crest Trail Association

For students with moderate to extensive trail building experience who want to lead trail crews and work parties. Not a construction techniques class; this is about effective leadership. Students will have classroom and field work in the following topics: work day responsibilities, risk assessment and safety, tool safety and tool talk, leadership and team building, practical experience leading volunteers.


posted Jul 15, 2022

A Call for Expanding Trails Research

by Jeffrey Marion with U.S. Geological Survey

Trails research can help support trail management decision-making and funding by providing objective, quantitative information describing trail users, their numbers and demographics, preferences, and economic expenditures.


posted Jul 15, 2022

The Influence of Layout on Appalachian Trail Soil Loss, Widening, and Muddiness

This research investigates the influence of layout and design on the severity of trail degradation.


posted Jul 15, 2022

Improving the Sustainability of the Appalachian Trail

by U.S. Geological Survey

The Appalachian National Scenic Trail (A.T.) is a unique internationally recognized protected natural area encompassing more than 250,000 acres and a 2,190-mile footpath from Maine to Georgia.