Rails to Trails biking in USA
 

Hello, I am interested in hearing experiences from those who have done multi day trips on rails to trails bike routes in the USA. If you have done a trip report, would you please provide a link? We frequently do trips on the New River Trail in Virginia and are considering trying some other areas. Your suggestions and comments will be appreciated. Thank you.

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You might be interested in this site, if Missouri interests you: www.bikekatytrail.com
There is a pretty active discussion forum there.

Thanks, Aloha. That trail does interest me. I appreciate the information.

Two really great routes that we have enjoyed many times...Mickelson Trail in the Black Hills of SD- takes you through some beautiful country and varied terrain. The other one is the Root River in south eastern Minnesota. I would highly reccomend both of them.

Thank you, jorda. Have you ever biked on the Superior Trail? I know it is primarily for hiking, but it looks like a great way to see Up North.

Hmmmm....Not a rail-trail, but there are several trail systems in Colorado set up for multi-day bike trips (by mountain bike)---the Tenth Mountain Trail and the San Juan Hut System. These are hut-to-hut trips for self-catering types; no B & B's in sight. But the huts, at least on the Tenth Mountain system are lovely, and the scenery is incredible.

Here in Washington State, we have the John Wayne Pioneer Trail, aka Iron Horse Trail (that is the name of the state park it traverses). The trail goes 110 miles from Rattlesnake Lake, near North Bend, Wa, over Snoqualmie Pass to Cle Elum on the east side of the mountains. Along the way, it crosses trestles, goes through a long tunnel (bring a light), and passes several trailheads for hiking. It could be linked with the 36-mile long Snoqualmie Valley Trail which starts near Seattle for a nice multi-day trip, althoug lodging would only be available at North Bend, the top of Snoqualmie Pass, and then at the end in Cle Elum.

I've ridden most of the Snoqualmie Valley Trail, and part of the Iron Horse, and both are lovely---first winding through farmland and over rivers, then up in the Cascade foothills with nice views.

I looked all over the web for photos and found a few here:

http://www.theslowlane.com/01tripg/ironcamp.html

Cougars have been seen on the trail, but it is not common!

This is not a good site for touring cyclists. Try phred.org. You have to join but it is free. This is a site for hard core, touring cyclists with great info. Ask you question there/

Wow, great info and pictures, Enzian. thank you so much. Added to the target list!
Thank you,fmpden.

IF mountain lions truely have be seen on the trail, that is not to be taken lightly. A mountain bicyclist was killed in CA, a 9 year old running a head of his family on a hiking trail disappeared in CO and all they found was his shoes a few months later. Moutain lions and bikes do not mix well.

There is a rails to trails project outside of Eugene Or in Cottage Grove.
Its a nice easy ride- its only about 30 miles long at this point though.
It goes along Dorena Lake and is very pretty-
If you saw the movie " Stand By Me"
it was filmed here - remember the bridge? You would ride your bike over it-

fmpden, my comment was based on one report from a friend who was biking that trail; they turned around when they saw the cougar. I have also run into people when hiking that have seen a cougar in an area near, but not on, that trail.

But cougar sightings so close to the urban area (Seattle/Bellevue) are very uncommon, and I have not heard of any actual attacks anywhere near here. There is no reason to avoid biking this trail on account of cougars.

Two trails in Wisconsin, Sparta to Elroy and the Sugar River Trail from New Glarus to Brodhead. Both are very nice trails especially in the fall.

If you end up on the Katy trail in Missouri, check out the Chain of Rocks bridge.

www.cruisin66.com/stl/cor.html

There is no reason to avoid biking this trail on account of cougars.

There is every reason in the world to avoid a trail if mountain lions are present. Just today a couple in CA walking a trail were attacked. They are not big house cats.

Sounds like we will have some fabulous choices. Thank you for your suggestions.

This may not interest you being in Canada, but a good friend of mine took the train from Montreal as far as Bathurst, New Brunswick on VIA Rail. There are special rules about bringing one's bike on VIA Rail (something about removing the pedals for example), so she had to assemble her bike once arrived in NB. She biked around the Acadian Peninsula by the Baie des Chaleurs, taking smaller roads (maybe some paths?) all the way down to Moncton, New Brunswick (from which she caught the train back), hugging close to the coast. She stayed at little inns in villages/towns all along the way. She did this all on her own; it did look like one gorgeous trip and she came back with powerful legs lemme tell ya. I was very impressed with her determination and get-up-and-go.

Thanks, Daniel. Actually we are planning this year's trip on Le P'tite Train du Nord bike trail near Montreal. We love Canada and vacation there nearly every year. I am unwilling to ride on roads with car traffic so it has to be trails to work for me. Thanks for your suggestion.