I just found one entitled, Assabet River Rail Trail's Blog.
It had me from the first sentence: "Some communities embrace rail trails more than others."
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| The Boulder Creek Path passes through downtown Boulder, CO. |
That is so true. I put rail trail communities into three categories:
- Those that don't have a trail system.
- Those that do have a trail system.
- Those that have a trail system and wholeheartedly support that system.
I'll focus on the positive here and give a couple examples of towns that have great trail systems and continue to make them better.
The first trail town that comes to mind is Keene, New Hampshire. On my visit there last year, I was impressed at their goal to become a trail hub. Two of the bigger trails in Keene are the Ashuelot Rail Trail and the Cheshire Rail Trail. The Ashuelot trail starts/ends right in town and meanders out into the countryside following the Ashuelot River. It passes numerous old cemeteries, abandoned rail centers, and quaint New England villages.
The Cheshire trail starts outside of town and crosses over some beautiful bridges on its way to the Massachusetts state line. Last I heard, the plans were to bring the trail right into downtown and connect it with the Ashuelot Rail Trail. I believe these are two crucial steps for assuring the trail thrives and gets lots of users.
Another great trail town is Boulder, Colorado. It has a nice mix of trails such as the Boulder Creek Path and the Meyers Homestead Trail, and it keeps adding trails and connecting one with another. This dynamic trail building is essential to the success and usefulness of a trail system. With lots of open space around the town, Boulder has lots of room to grow its trail system and, hopefully, that's exactly what it plans to do.
