Show us your Rail Trails, Hiking Trails, Cycling Paths, etc.
Victoria ... where we used to live ... has a decent collection of rail trails. A person can get get onto one and cycle to the next town or further without encountering a motor vehicle along the way. Except maybe at an intersection. We used to live on the longest rail trail in Victoria ... the Great Victorian Rail Trail (134 km), and would use a small part of it in the evenings for a short ride, or a longer part on the weekends. We visited the area over Easter and rode parts of the trail two of the days we were there.
So this got me to thinking ... what sort of trails do you have in your area? [HR][/HR] This website shows the rail trails in Victoria, and if you click the links on the left sidebar, you'll see the rail trails in other States as well: Victoria: https://www.railtrails.org.au/trail-...tions/victoria [HR][/HR] Down here in Tasmania, there aren't quite as many as Victoria, or as long, but we ride the Hobart Intercity Cycleway (15.6km) quite regularly: https://www.railtrails.org.au/trail-...tions/tasmania This site is quite interesting in that it shows trails for a number of car-free activities - walking, cycling, horse riding: Greater Hobart Trails | Bush walking, bike riding, mountain biking, horse riding and urban tracks in Hobart, Kingborough, Derwent Valley, Clarence, Glenorchy & Brighton, Tasmania Australia Select Cycling and Hobart ... and you get a page of trails: Find a track | Cycling | Hobart | Greater Hobart Trails We've done the Cycleway, of course, but also the Fern Tree to Silver Falls and the Pipeline Track (those two connect, so we did them in one day). Those two are really pretty, and I hope to do them again soon. Select Walking ... and there are a whole bunch of walking tracks as well, several of which we can walk to from home. We did one of the trails one evening about a month ago, and as dusk was falling we walked through a reserve which I was previously unaware of, and it was thick with pademelons. :) Tassie Trails is another website that provides info about a few mtn bike trails around the State: Tassie Trails |
Tasmania is known as a walking/hiking location ...
The Parks Department has put together information for long and short walks. 60 Great Short Walks: Parks & Wildlife Service - 60 Great Short Walks Great Walks: Parks & Wildlife Service - Great Walks We've walked all or part of several of these. Discover Tasmania (the official tourism site) also has information on the local walks ... Walking - Discover Tasmania |
Our Rivertrail system is now 18 miles long with zero automobile interaction. It's scenic enough for pleasure rides, and the routing is practical for true transportation across the city. And bald eagles are now nesting on it!
lansingrivertrail.org | Lansing River Trail |
Boston as a compact East Coast urban environment has a nice set of bikepaths that connect the downtown area through the midtown as it were, and out to the residential neighborhoods and inner suburbs, providing utilitarian byways for cycle commuting or recreation, though these paths are not completely connected. These include:
PS: For the past two years we have had one of the Annual Fifty-Plus Forum Rides in Boston encompassing a weekend of cycling on the paths, walks in Boston, as well as a Saturday sub-ex-urban Ride in conjunction with a local cycling advocacy group, MassBike, usually the last weekend in July. Notice for this year will be posted on the Fifty-Plus Forum. |
Parks & Recreation - Maricopa County
All the parks have different level of hiking/biking trails. I normally ride and hike in San Tan Regional Park and Usery Mountain Regional Park. There are many more parks that Federal or local government that are not on here as well. |
Have you been riding or hiking any trails in your area or other areas over your summer holidays this year?
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Washington has the John Wayne trail that has about 300 miles overall (various names and a little argument what parts count). Over the mountain pass you go through some tunnels, one is 2 1/2 miles long.
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Originally Posted by Kindaslow
(Post 18048754)
Washington has the John Wayne trail that has about 300 miles overall (various names and a little argument what parts count). Over the mountain pass you go through some tunnels, one is 2 1/2 miles long.
Actually that has inspired me ... when we go to Canada, we go to BC. Washington isn't that far from BC. We might have to check this out next time we go. |
Originally Posted by Machka
(Post 18071140)
Beautiful area!
Actually that has inspired me ... when we go to Canada, we go to BC. Washington isn't that far from BC. We might have to check this out next time we go. Train was about half an hour late, so the bike and I deboarded the train but were unable to catch a bus to Issaquah. Oh well, 16.5 miles extra fun on a MUP or two we woulda skipped, should be fun! https://farm1.staticflickr.com/473/1...7bc262b5_k.jpg I was hoping to make it to my originally planned first campsite but the eastern sky was already getting light, so I unfurled a tarp and a sleeping bag, figuring a nice 4-hour nap under the stars. No dice. So many skeeters I think I only slept about a half hour total before rolling up and rolling out. I get about two miles down the trail and BAM! Oops, musta missed a turn. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/507/1...939c00e7_k.jpg Back on track! Singletrack, that is. Nice little diversion to route around a missing trestle. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/543/1...3b26b88d_k.jpg I had to transfer from one MUP to another. To avoid roads as much as possible I cut through TPC Snoqualmie Ridge. Caddie bro says “Amazing view, isn’t it? I wake up to that every morning!” It’s a little hazy out here cuzza the fires. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/299/1...5ccee8cd_k.jpg The next MUP kinda petered out in Snoqualmie proper, so a little road riding was done past Snoqualmie Station and beyond. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3807/...53b2301d_k.jpg Then rolled past a super hazy Mt. Si. A lot of Twin Peaks footage was shot in this area. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/440/1...c8ca48ca_k.jpg Finally got to the rail trail I’ve been wanting to ride, the John Wayne Pioneer Trail! Broke out the campstove here and had some pasta with tuna. I wasn’t as prepared as I thought I was for riding a bicycle up 26 miles (maybe a slight exaggeration) of 2% grade (seemed steeper at times), but that realization wouldn’t come for a few more hours. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/361/1...91bf9470_k.jpg … The John Wayne Trail out to Ellensburg is pretty awesome! (mostly) Partial shade keeps it somewhat cool even in the middle of summer. I still had to take a nap in a shady campsite from 3-5, since I had almost no sleep the night before and it was just too hot! As I was rolling up camp, I met a dude who had ridden it out to where it meets the Columbia River last summer and he said it was a lot of soft sand out in the Army area (US Army Yakima Training Center). I decided to call an audible on my route plan and just go to Ellensburg. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/324/1...3b9ce3df_k.jpg The Snoqualmie Tunnel was much spookier than I’d anticipated. 2.3 miles of darkness and dripping water. Sure glad I got to it before night fall. When I went into it there was a father and two sons with no lights exiting it. Either they just went in a few yards and U-turned or they got nerves of steel! The east end was super foggy when I went through. Kinda hard to tell in the pic but fog is just pouring out of the opening. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3955/...2d2ca63d_k.jpg Dropped in to Hyak to use the bathroom and I was about ready to move in. OMG, electric lights, hot and cold running water and flush toilets? This place has everything! I probably shoulda just stayed there because just after Hyak there’s I dunno, maybe 4 miles of DEEP fresh gravel. I was about a mile into it when I come across a campground, so I stop, but I don’t wanna camp there cuz it’s prime riding time, maybe a couple of hours ’til sundown. I was so hot, tired and confused I just kinda stared at the map there and fiddled with one of the campground pay envelopes, even started filling it out, but would then look at the map and then at the crappy deep gravel. Eventually a woman emerges from the woods, says she and her husband are headed the opposite direction as I am. We both cry a bit about the gravel and ask how much more of it we have to endure. She said there’s about two miles of it left for me, I tell her only about a mile for them. They’d been touring for about 6 months, South America on up. They were about to move to Seattle and that was the endpoint of their tour. I decide that I have to kill off as much of that deep gravel mileage as I can and push on… https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3878/...bddc8e0f_k.jpg Found a great non-sanctioned campsite. All moss – so plush, slept like a baby. Got up, had some tasty rice and tuna and hit the trail. At one point I stopped at a gate and changed shirts, snacked and whatnot. Apparently left my helmet on the gate, cuz approx 7.5 miles later I went to put my shades back on and thought “Hmm, that was way to easy. Dammit, I don’t have a helmet on.” I shoulda just forgotten it but naww, how far back could it be??? |
Oh well onward and upward…
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/496/1...529a7e91_k.jpg Getting into the dry side of the state now. The Milwaukee Road was electric, so they had power stations here and there to keep the juice flowing. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/500/1...9b11f350_k.jpg There was a BBQ joint in the adjacent Cle Elum Station but I didn’t eat there – had to keep hammering before the real heat of the day struck. Stopping for pics was enough... Next set of tunnels required that you sign a liability release, cuz rocks fall from the walls from time to time. Glad I went back for my helmet!!! https://farm1.staticflickr.com/291/1...209189be_k.jpg Didn’t really get any pics in Ellensburg. Spent the night there in a Motel, checked out at 11. Killed some time strolling around CWU, had a burger in the student union and eventually caught a bus down to Yakima. Scored some Mobil-1 out of an auto parts store trashcan and lubed up the chain real nice, watched some dude play guitar at the street fair. One bank sign said 108°. The heat was brutal so I didn’t hit the road ’til about a half hour before sunset. Even then I made sure I had a full complement of 5 litres water (shoulda brought capacity for 7 litres), and totally soaked my hair and jersey. Here’s the cut I’d be cruising through about an hour later, onto the reservation. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/516/1...ede1c8c5_k.jpg All highway miles for a while. Not many people on the Res keep their dogs in fenced areas, so I had to deal with 3 packs of dogs when I went on an off-highway shortcut. It was pretty much full moon so riding at night was awesome! I kept going almost all the way to Goldendale. Unfortunately US 97 on the way to Goldendale has a pretty brutal hill on it. I grabbed a nice spot to camp by the highway, unfortunately HWY 97 never sleeps, so I didn’t sleep all that well and was up with the sun. Leisurely coast into Goldendale, had to skip some of the logging roads I wanted to hit, since they were closed due to fire danger. But eventually hit some of South Central Washington’s finest gravel. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/275/1...af73ecb2_k.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/550/1...56b44f8f_k.jpg |
Thanks for that trip report @LesterOfPuppets ... sounds like quite the adventure, and great photos!
I especially like this one for some reason ... just appeals to me. :) https://farm1.staticflickr.com/299/1...5ccee8cd_k.jpg |
Here's a link to the alleged system, which is not really there. It's about half built, and some of the 'finished' trails are not paved, so... But some of what we do have is very nice.
http://static1.squarespace.com/stati...Connectors.pdf The Jax-Baldwin trail offers plenty of shade and natural beauty close to town. http://i.imgur.com/LDjFQF8m.jpg.http://i.imgur.com/JPD68C0m.jpg Lake Okeechobee trail offers a 100 mile loop, free camping, a constant view of the lake, and frequent access to stores without hindrance from traffic. http://i.imgur.com/W0TEK3zm.jpg My favorite is the Nature Coast trail. It is very scenic and shady. The trail runs through the woods in the middle of nowhere, with some great parks and natural springs along the way. http://i.imgur.com/WiYKDVim.jpg.http://i.imgur.com/xm4FoPam.jpg |
Originally Posted by Machka
(Post 17753319)
We used to live on the longest rail trail in Victoria ... the Great Victorian Rail Trail (134 km), and would use a small part of it in the evenings for a short ride, or a longer part on the weekends. We visited the area over Easter and rode parts of the trail two of the days we were there.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7600/...8b8feeb5_c.jpg A tunnel on the trail ... it does get very dark in there! https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8774/...dd8b76b8_z.jpg Some more of the trail ... https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7593/...d2f0992f_c.jpg |
There's a newly completed green belt trail outside Toronto (official "launch" this weekend!) that I hope to sample during a few days off in a couple of weeks. I'll try to post some pics or link to a video at the end of the month. Full disclosure - I'll have to drive there.
for some reason I can't open the link to the Greenbelt trail but here's a magazine article about it. People may also be interested in the magazine (Dandyhorse), but it's mainly aimed for Toronto cyclists. Greenbelt Route launches this month: Ontario cycle tourism gets a boost | dandyhorse magazine hopefully the trail website is down due to massive interest! |
Originally Posted by cooker
(Post 18071593)
There's a newly completed green belt trail outside Toronto (official "launch" this weekend!) that I hope to sample during a few days off in a couple of weeks. I'll try to post some pics or link to a video at the end of the month. Full disclosure - I'll have to drive there...for some reason I can't open the link to the Greenbelt trail
It looks like it is mostly just ordinary rural roads. The only major part that is truly a trail is the Caledon Trail I have previously reported on. Pales in comparison to Quebec's Route Verte which is much more on former rail beds. Still, I'll check out part of it next week and report back |
Originally Posted by cooker
(Post 18080365)
Turns out some security feature at my temporary jobsite didn't like the greenbelt website.
It looks like it is mostly just ordinary rural roads. The only major part that is truly a trail is the Caledon Trail I have previously reported on. Pales in comparison to Quebec's Route Verte which is much more on former rail beds. Still, I'll check out part of it next week and report back I'm interested in doing it one day. :) |
There's an interesting little article about the National Cycle Network in Cycling Weekly
National Cycle Network brings £650m to UK economy, study suggests - Cycling Weekly Sustrans | Join the movement About the National Cycle Network | Sustrans We've cycled parts of the National Cycle Network and would go back and cycle more if the opportunity presented itself. :) |
Originally Posted by Machka
(Post 18088209)
Have you cycled Quebec's Route Verte?
I'm interested in doing it one day. :) |
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Originally Posted by LesterOfPuppets
(Post 18071148)
Next set of tunnels required that you sign a liability release, cuz rocks fall from the walls from time to time. Glad I went back for my helmet!!!
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Great Allegheny Passage - www.gaptrail.org
I have not done this but it's on my to do. Would starting a thread on fire roads be worthwhile? |
@LesterOfPuppets - what a great trip!
I have a question for you. I've been debating between a cyclocross/adventure type road bike, versus a flat-bar bike. One of the main scenarios for me is to be able to ride the types of trails you talk about and photograph as part of your trip. Do you think those trails could have been done with a cyclocross type bike? |
Originally Posted by surfmonkey89
(Post 18119864)
@LesterOfPuppets - what a great trip!
I have a question for you. I've been debating between a cyclocross/adventure type road bike, versus a flat-bar bike. One of the main scenarios for me is to be able to ride the types of trails you talk about and photograph as part of your trip. Do you think those trails could have been done with a cyclocross type bike? Next time I ride it I'll probably have drop bars on one of my MTBs. |
I live outside of Seattle, so it sounds like I could easily do a day trip up through the tunnel on the pass as long as I have big-ish tires on a road bike. Put that on the list for next summer :)
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