How You Can help

How you can help
We are seeking hosts along our entire route and it would be greatly appreciated if you would like to share a meal and your homes, barns, campgrounds with us. If you would like to help in this capacity, please text or call 630-589-2721. If we do not answer, leave a message and we will get right back to you!

Support Rails to Trails Conservancy

This year's route will feature several of the Rails Trails. Rails to Trails is a great way to preserve our past and link trails to our future. Also equestrian preservation in this area is very important. The right to ride declines everyday.

Our Mission

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a nationwide network of trails from former rail lines and connecting corridors to build healthier places for healthier people.

Who We Are

RTC members on our annual Rail-Trail Sojourn | Photo by Cleo Fogal

RTC serves as the national voice for more than 160,000 members and supporters, 31,000 miles of rail-trails and multi-use trails, and more than 8,000 miles of potential trails waiting to be built, with a goal of creating more walkable, bikeable communities in America.

Our national office is located in Washington, D.C., with regional offices in California, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Since 1986, we have worked from coast to coast, supporting the development of thousands of miles of rail-trails for millions to explore and enjoy. We’ve helped craft rural trails that spool out over a hundred miles of open prairie, snake through mountain passes, span canyons and hug riverbanks, offering views of the countryside often unknown to the highway traveler. We’ve been a part of the connections between towns and suburbs, linking communities along vibrant corridors in much the same way as the railroads did in their heyday.

RTC’s mission, and its value, is magnified in urban areas, where one mile of trail can completely redefine the livability of a community. Where trails are more than just recreational amenities, creating opportunities for active transportation and physical activity—improving our health and wellbeing—as they safely connect us to jobs, schools, businesses, parks and cultural institutions in our own neighborhoods and beyond.

And, through our promotion of rails-with-trails—trails alongside active rail lines—we are now unlocking the true potential of transportation systems that reflect how people really get around in the 21st century.

Read more about the origins and history of RTC.

Megan Gray - Buffalo Moon Press
Emotional Freedom Starts on the Trail

How You Can help

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