Why Trails?

Whether hiking, bicycling, riding on horseback or participating in motorized recreation nearly everyone uses trails for a similar goal – to spend time outdoors. This time outside, whether a short walk down a paved trail to work in an urban setting, or a hike to a point reachable to only a few Americans makes trail users happier people.

by American Trails

Trails drive economic success in a number of ways. When trails are brought into a community studies have shown that property values near the trail increase, businesses near trails flourish, trail tourism provides an influx of money to communities, and jobs are created due to the trails impact. More and more we are seeing individuals take outdoor recreation opportunities, largely driven by trails, into consideration when choosing where to live.

Published August 2020

About the Author


American Trails celebrates decades of working on behalf of all trail interests. Our website is one of the world's most comprehensive online sources for planning, building, designing, funding, managing, enhancing, and supporting trails, greenways, and blueways.

More articles by this author

More articles in this category

Trails For All Americans

posted Aug 23, 2023

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?

Why Trails Matter: Resilience to Wildfire

posted Aug 9, 2023

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.

2022 CDT Small Business Survey

posted Feb 14, 2023

From August to December 2021, the Continental Divide Trail Coalition surveyed 136 small business owners in 38 communities located along the Continental Divide Trail to learn more about how the Continental Divide Trail impacts their businesses, the local economy, and their support for public lands.

The Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) is Making a Difference Across America

posted May 10, 2022

Use this interactive map to find where, when, and how these funds are being used.