How many miles of trails are there in the United States?
I posed this question to the Trails and Greenways forum on Yahoo Groups. And the ensuing discussion was incredibly informative and eye-opening. The short answer to my question was, “Nobody knows for sure what the total trail mileage in the U.S.” However, I was pleased to note that many people in the group agreed that it would be good to know that figure for numerous reasons, not the least of which is trail funding.
However, another very important question arose from the original trail mileage question. And that question was, “How do you define trail?” Some members wanted to know if little park trails that were mainly built to get park users from point A to point B (gazebo to pond for example) were considered trails. Would the C & O Canal Towpath be considered a trail?
How do you define trail?
trail or no trail?
So I wanted to ask the trailsnet readers how they would define trail. Not to steer the conversation, but to help get it started, I’ll throw in one of my trail criteria. (or would that be criterion?) Keep in mind, this is just my opinion, so feel free to disagree. I think that any pathway that is physically connected to a road such as a sidewalk or bike lane should not be considered a trail. However, any connector trail or park trail, no matter how short, should be considered as a trail. (unless it is physically connected to a road)
So now it’s your turn. Using the comments option below, please share your definition of a trail.
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Interesting topic. I mostly agree with you assessment, but I suppose the modern definition would include that its main purpose is for recreation as opposed to transportation. That would exclude small park trails such as the ones you mentioned, but would include seasonal trails like cross country ski trails.
And just to play devil’s advocate, does the recreation have to be non-motorized? Is a trail made for motocross bikes not a trail? I, of course, prefer non-motorized, but there is a large number of people who use trails on motorized equipment. I suppose this is more of a way to categorize trails, some are multi-use, some are not.
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By the way, Steve, if you’re not already a member of the Trails & Greenway Forum, you may enjoy some of their discussions. It’s a good group. 99% of the time I just enjoy reading the forum discussions, but lately I’ve enjoyed being involved in some of the conversation.
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Good points, Steve. And to muddy the waters even further, what about electric bikes or pedal-assist bikes? Should trails that allow them but not other motorized vehicles still be considered non-motorized paths?
And besides the use issue, how about surface. Should all surface materials be included in the definition of trail and/or affect their designation as a trail? asphalt, cement, gravel, dirt, etc.?
I think of a trail as any path (beaten or paved) that is used to travel by walkers, hikers, bikers, horses, skiers, dog sled etc. I think you would have sub categories that would define the type of trail, such as multi-use (this would need to be spelled out with signage), Mountain Bike, Dirt bike, Pedestrian, Equestrian, Cycling, and others. I have a bike path (as it is called) near my house that was built as a transportation corridor between two rural cities and runs 12 miles in one direction. However it also gets a lot of walkers (with and without babies and dogs), recreational cyclist, runners, rollerbladers, and electric wheel chairs and scooters. All coexist on this Trail (path) in Harmony and their is no signage defining the type of trail (path).
I never really think of a sidewalk as a trail. Its purpose other than separating pedestrians from traffic is to provide a short paved access from point A to point B.
It was interesting, I googled your original question as to the miles of trails in the US and no one gave a total, Wikepedia listed dozens of trails with their individual mileage but no totals or even estimates. I then googled by State and basically got the same response, so to your original point, I don’t think anyone has a clue as to the quantity of trails themselves much less the total number of miles they make up. I’d love to go through my state and document the miles of trails, but then I’d probably forget why I was out there and start enjoying the scenery!
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Thanks for the great feedback about what makes a trail a trail, Steve. Now you’ve got me curious which trail is the 12 mile trail between the two rural cities in Florida. You’ve got so many great ones there.
You had the exact same Google search experience as I did. I wanted to write a trailsnet blogpost about how many miles of trail we have in the U.S. So I did a Google (and others) search and ended up with the same results as you. Absolutely no one seems to have the vaguest idea about trail mileage in this country. So that’s when I took it to the pros at the Greenways & Trail forum.
I was glad to hear that they were enthusiastic and helpful in their responses. And they also acknowledged that no group has ever taken on the task of figuring out those trail statistics. We all seemed to agree that such figures are needed for numerous reasons.
I’ve even spoken with my U.S. Senate representative and got the vague answer that such figures would have to come from the private sector. I’ve got a couple problems w/ that notion. First, the vast majority of trails were funded, built & maintained by either government entities or non-profits. Secondly, the private sector tends to do things for profit. Unfortunately, there would be no profit motive in figuring out trail miles.
I would love to be involved in some sort of project designed to gather such trail statistics. It would be a big job, though and would require a lot of cooperation from various trail governing entities such as cities, counties, states, Forest Service, National Park Service, RTC, etc. Unfortunately, one person couldn’t do it all w/out a lot of help.
Kevin maybe we could at least get the process started from our respective locations. I know Bob from Hike and Bike America would be a source I know would help. If we could build a little momentum maybe we could get the support of such organizations as Rails to Trails , NRT, American Trails, and possibly Google Bike Maps. Just a thought! BTW here is the link to the Bike Path I use to travel to my shopping locations. http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=202865558492018734795.0004b9a8b4dcd3eed4278
Change the view to Satellite mode and zoom in, it will look like a road running beside hwy 301.
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Another excellent idea, Steve. I’m ready to get going on it. The old saying, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” couldn’t be more appropriate.
Would you mind doing me a favor?
I just had a new “Add a Trail” feature installed on trailsnet. Would you mind trying to add a trail?
It doesn’t really matter how much information you put on it… whatever you happen to know about the trail would be fine and any trail would do. I haven’t had anyone else but me add a trail yet, and I’d like to see how the new feature works.
Start by double-clicking on the Add a Trail button (not Submit Trail Data… that’s for revising a trail you’ve already added.)
Then you’ll have to sign up for an account; (typical trail website stuff – You’ll be the very first official trail-meister!!!) I believe it will then send me an email that I’ll approve.
From there you can start adding trail information.
This will be our first step in the thousand mile journey. If it works out okay, then I can start inviting more trail blazers… possibly Bob from Hike and Bike.
Let me know what you think.
Done… I think! I loaded it up, trying to fill every option as I saw them. Its pretty cool, you have to show me later how you got that process added to your wordpress. I like it!
trail= <18 inches
path= 2-12'
road= 12 feet<
Lots of people are using garmin connect and strava to load hikes and bikes. Maybe the data can be mined and duplicates eliminated…still a huge task, but I would like to know.
I want to know hiking vs. horse vs. bike trail mile numbers. In the interest of justice and equality I'd say. Don't mind exclusivity, because sometimes you just need to be away for each other. But in the interest of equality it would be nice for each user group to share, but also have their fair share of trails closed to other groups so they can be with their own kind. I know this sounds backwards, but sometimes on the trail this makes sense.
http://www.mtbthreads.com/images/home/mTbThreads_not a trail.jpg
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Hi Erik. Thanks for the input about definition of a trail. It looks like your proposal would be to use width to determine the terminology.
That has the merit of being clearcut which has its advantages. What do you think of the option of using surface type instead? So that any loose-pack surface (dirt, gravel, etc.) would be (for example) a trail while concrete, asphalt, boardwalk, etc. would be a path (or vice versa).
Just a thought. I certainly don’t have the answers, but I enjoy getting input from the outdoor community.
BTW, I like your t-shirt designs.