{"id":11156,"date":"2021-02-01T14:29:29","date_gmt":"2021-02-01T22:29:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jauntyeverywhere.com\/?p=11156"},"modified":"2024-03-13T10:28:15","modified_gmt":"2024-03-13T17:28:15","slug":"how-to-find-family-friendly-trails","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jauntyeverywhere.com\/how-to-find-family-friendly-trails\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Find Family-Friendly Trails"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Would you like limitless options for family-friendly trails? Are you looking for a safe place to take your kids to enjoy hiking, biking, and geocaching?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Are you interested in adventures that combine nature, history, and community?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look no further. The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy has you covered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating a network of recreational trails from unused railroad lines. A Rail Trail is a pathway built on an old railway track.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n The trails meander along old railway lines that have been abandoned or retired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trains and railways played an essential role in the history of the USA. As transportation has improved and technology provides new ways of moving from one place to another, much of America’s railway system has fallen into disuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the remnants of these rail lines remain behind, stretching across land, dotting it with bridges, track, and embankments. It’s a nostalgic taste of our past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What better way to explore a bit of history and get a chance to be active than to use an old railway for walking, biking, running, and more?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rail Trails are prime places for a geocaching adventure. You will often find dozens of caches on a single trail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Geocaching is a great way to keep kids interested on a trail – who doesn’t love a treasure hunt? Using your smartphone’s GPS, you will hunt for hidden caches. You can even create and conceal your cache on a hometown trail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you’re new to the idea of geocaching, we have you covered with these two posts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hometown Tourist: Geocaching<\/p>\n\n\n\n How to Get Started Geocaching<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Rail Trails are multi-use spaces, as you will see below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But one thing they all have in common is space for pedestrians. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether you’re into a relaxing stroll, a sweaty hike, or a full-out trail run, you can find a rail trail to suit your needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Many Rail Trails are in urban and suburban areas, creating green spaces for everyday exercise and recreation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Second, to foot traffic, Rail Trails are most popular with bikers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Paved trails offer a safe place (removed from traffic) for family bike rides. By nature, Rail Trails are level-ish – trains don’t love climbing hills any more than they have to – making Rail-Trails perfect for an easy to moderate bike ride. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Unimproved Rail-Trails are available for more adventurous mountain biking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Paved trails are often suitable for inline skates (aka Rollerblades) and scooters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This comes in handy when your family spans a wide age gap. One year our family trained for a 5k fun-run. We (the parents) and Brittany (oldest child) jogged while the younger kids skated and scooted. Having wheels not only allowed them to keep up but also staves off boredom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pro tip: autumn can be hard on in-line skaters in parts of the country with deciduous trees. The trails become caked with soggy leaves and bits of branches, making it nearly impossible to skate (or scoot) without losing a limb.????<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some Rail-Trails are cleared of snow during the winter months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But some aren’t! And these trails are prime locations for cross-country skiing. Again, the trails have zero-to gentle- grading, making them perfect for snow swooshing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We have passed many horseback riders during our Rail Trail adventures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Like people, horses enjoy being safe from traffic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Not every trail is open to horses, but the horse-friendly ones often include parking lots designed for trailers and hitching. All these details will be spelled out in the trail listing (more on that below). <\/p>\n\n\n\n If ATV’s and snowmobiles are your things, Rails-to-Trails has designated select areas for you to pursue your passion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can search and filter for locations on the website or app (more on that below). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are 10 creative ideas for creating unique Rail Trail challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first and obvious adventure is to take advantage of the Rail Trails in your state\u2014nearly every US state sports a Rail Trail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You will find beautiful areas and new-to-you experiences in your backyard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Create a checklist or home-grown passport and see if you can visit all the trails. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hometown Tourist: Take a Walk<\/p>\n\n\n\n Longest, shortest, highest, lowest, oldest, newest… collect superlative experiences as you travel the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For instance, the 5 longest Rail Trails are:<\/p>\n\n\n\nFamily-friendly activities on rail trails <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Geocache<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Walking, hiking, and running<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Biking and mountain biking<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Inline skates and scooters<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Cross-country skiing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Horseback riding<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
ATV’s and snowmobiles<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Family-friendly adventures on rail trails <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Explore your state<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. Superlatives<\/h3>\n\n\n\n