Bikeways Outside of Massachusetts

National Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

Find rail trails all over the U.S. at their TrailLink web site.

Old Railroad Maps from the Library of Congress

C & O Canal Trail

The C & O Canal is a 184-mile-long National Historical Park. It begins in Washington, D.C. and follows the Potomac River to Cumberland, Maryland. The towpath is bikeable most of the length of the park.

Airline Rail Trail

This rail-trail in Connecticut is currently only hikeable, but could become part of a regional network of off-road bikeways.

Chicago Area Bikeways

This Chicago Tribune article describes the significant abount of bikeway activity in the Chicago area in 1995.

Cowboy Trail

A 321-mile trail across Nebraska, destined to be the nation's longest rail trail. Tony Hiss talks about riding on it in his article in the December 1997 Atlantic Monthly.

East Bay Bike Path

Rhode Island's premiere bikepath, probably the best in the Northeastern United States, has a great web site put together by Scott Morin. It is 14.5 miles long and runs south from East Providence to Bristol along Naragansett Bay. There is also an official site.

Euro Velo

This project of the European Cyclists' Federation proposes to tie all of Europe together in a network of routes which reach every corner of the continent. It seems like the system is still in the planning stages, though the first route was supposed to open in 2000.

Farmington River Greenway

A 25-mile greenway in central Connecticut which could eventually connect Springfield, Massachusetts to New Haven, Connecticut. It is part of the East Coast Greenway, and is being built town by town.

Fox Valley Trail

This trail follows Illinois Fox River north from Aurora to the Wisconsin border, passing through many towns and cities along the way, including Elgin, where my family settled in the 1840's and my father grew up, Algonquin, where my mother grew up, and Dundee, where I grew up. Here's a map of much of the trail from this site at IIT.

Genesee Valley Greenway

The Genesee Valley Greenway follows the path of the abandoned Genesee Valley Canal and Pennsylvania Railroad, passing through two counties, several villages and nine towns in western New York.

Grand Illinois Trail

The Grand Illinois Trail is a planned 475-mile trail through northern Illinois that will link Lake Michigan with the Mississippi River and connect metropolitan Chicago, Rockford and the Quad Cities with rural communities, State Parks and other Illinois attractions.

Illinois Prairie Path

This 55-mile-long biking, hiking, jogging, equestrian, and nature trail in Chicago's western suburbs is one of the oldest rail-trails in the U.S. Their Virtual Museum tells the history of this path and the origins of the rail-trail movement.

Katy Trail

This 200-mile rail trail across Missouri is one of the longest in the nation. The web site has a nice segment by segment guide with pictures.

LA to Pasadena Bicycle Tollway

The California Cycleway Company was established in 1897 to build a bikeway from Pasadena to Los Angeles. Now in 1996, a new group spear headed by Dennis Crowley has been created to build the Arroyo Seco Bikeway.

Palo Alto CA Bicycle Boulevard

The Bicycle Boulevard uses a variety of traffic-calming techniques to create an on-street alternative to high-speed, high-traffic-volume streets.

La Route Verte

Velo Quebec's provice-wide network of green bike routes.

Rails-to-Trails in WEST VIRGINIA

Information about 16 rail trails in West Virginia.