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.
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 February 19, 2020
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.
The Power of Trails for Promoting Physical Activity in Communities
Promoting physical activity among children and adults is a priority national health objective in the United States. Regular physical activity lowers the risk of chronic diseases and is an important strategy for reversing the obesity epidemic.
Green Schoolyards for All Children
A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that the creation of nature-rich urban environments, including schoolyards with natural play spaces and gardens, can help improve physical and mental health, cognitive skills, creativity, and social bonding.
Investigating the Thru-hiker Experience: A Study on the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail
The phenomena of thru-hiking has been on a dramatic rise, spurring hikers to venture onto increasingly remote and challenging trails over extended periods of time. Despite the recent popularity of thru-hiking, the field remains relatively unstudied. In recreation, the expectations held beforehand have been linked to perceptions after an activity, but this has not been explored in thru-hiking.
Effects of Pack Weight on Endurance of Long-distance Hikers
This study evaluated pack weight to understand the limits of long-term load carriage. Participants were Appalachian Trail hikers who attempted to complete the entire trail in the 2012 season.
