The Best Urban Rails-to-Trails in the U.S.

As transit networks for human-powered activities, rails to trails are bringing together communities, linked by a shared interest in a safe way to commute and commune with nature, and, in the process, protecting natural resources while also revitalizing local businesses.

1. Illinois Prairie Path, Illinois

Nicknamed the Roarin' Elgin, the now retired Chicago, Aurora & Elgin Railroad once carried commuters and freight between Chicago and its suburbs. Its legacy, the 62-mile Illinois Prairie Path (IPP), one of the country's oldest rails to trails, is perfect not only for the botanically inclined but also the committed commuter.

2. Ojai Valley and Venture River trails - California

Urban grittiness is evident along the six-mile Ventura River trail where rotating and decommissioned oil derricks are in plain sight. But art installations also dot this trail, such as a bronze of oranges, reflecting the produce the railroad once transported, and other Ventura themes.

3. Burke Gilman Trail - Washington

 Traced by a sandy beach, Golden Gardens as well as other parts of the trail offer views of the mighty Olympic Mountains, even snow-capped Mount Rainier, in the distance.

4. Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail, Florida

The path -- it's dotted with aluminum sculptures as a nod to its railroad history -- allows bladers, walkers and cyclists to safely and scenically traverse the Gulf coast, tidal waterways, myriad leafy parks and quaint neighborhoods in a state that's hardly noted for its pedestrian-friendly clime.

5. Minuteman Bikeway - Massachusetts

Short but oh-so-sweet, the 10-mile-long Minuteman Bikeway wanders through the landscape touched by the Revolutionary War, paralleling the Battle Road, aka Massachusetts Avenue, the route taken by British soldiers that marched to Concord. Following the path of the Lexington & West Cambridge Railroad from Cambridge to Bedford, this rail-to-trail is heralded as a year-round commuter way, even in the dead of winter.

6. Washington & Old Dominion Trail - Virginia

Many cyclists, joggers and bladers escape D.C. or commute on this trail that compliments the capital's retinue of memorials and monuments with lessons in history that are blended with a sense of peace rarely found in the chaotic Beltway.

7. Silver Comet Trail - Georgia

For 22 years since 1947, passengers could board a luxury train that cruised over towering trestles and through tunnels bored into mountains as it made the trip from New York to Birmingham, Alabama. That storied corridor has been transformed into the 62-mile Silver Comet Trail that spans Smyrna, Georgia (on the outskirts of Atlanta) to the Georgia/Alabama border near Cedartown in a rural North Georgia corner that's a mix of hardwood forests and rolling fields.

Find out more about this these seven urban rails to trails in the article I wrote for NationalGeographic Traveler - Intelligent Travel.

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Fun Learning About Marine Creatures

Who wouldn't want to learn about all the oddly shaped, bizarrely colored and uniquely behaved creatures in the world's seas? But sitting in a classroom listening to a marine biologist drone on about facts and figures or pouring over a dense tome may not be the most fun way of going about it. I just posted a feature on the best ways to learn about sea life in the best places in the world. Sure, we all have a favorite place to snorkel, sea kayak or dive. But what if you could find the healthiest marine environs where there are such a diverse array of organisms, you wouldn't want to leave? This is the list of those 12 best places. And not only the best waters but also the best tour operators or accommodations at each site that will assist you in the fun learning experience in as eco-friendly a manner as possible. Check out where these 12 places are located and all the interesting organisms that call these waters home.

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Walking Through California's Wine Country

Of course California's Napa Valley is synonymous with wines. But this picturesque land blanketed by vineyards is also dotted with leafy parks, perfect for human powered activities, namely hiking and walking. Whether you're an oenophile or a foodie, next time you're visiting this placid valley, pay a visit to any of the following for a whole different take on the wine country:

• Not far from downtown Calistoga, the Bothe-Napa Valley State Park has some lovely but rugged paths, including the Redwood and Ritchey Canyon Trails where you'll come face to face with towering redwoods and Douglas fir trees. With more than 10 miles of trails, you could easily spend the day here or make it just a short visit by passing the time strolling along the creek. This park is one of my favorite picnic spots in the area.


• Not only can you check out a grist mill from the 1840s at the Bale Grist Mill State Historic Park but you can also walk from here to the Bothe-Napa Valley State Park. (It's only two miles.) The mill building is only open on weekends but it provides you with insights into an activity -- the milling of corn and wheat -- that was important to the community until it ended in the early 1900s.

• The Robert Lewis Stevenson State Park marks the spot where the author spent his honeymoon in 1880. I love the dense woodland of Pondersona pine, black oak and Douglas that the shady Stevenson Memorial Trail snakes through. Continue hiking farther uphill and you'll get a dramatic viewpoint of the entire Napa Valley, Mt. Diablo and the snowy Sierra Nevada mountains. If you've got the energy, you can continue climbing for several more miles to the top of Mount St. Helena for some supreme viewpoints of the surrounding peaks.

• What could be stranger than getting a fascinataing lesson in geology in the wine country? The Petrified Forest, the only such redwood forest in the world, allows you to take a self-guided walk to examine the curious gray-white specimens. (The Queen tree is said to have been 2,000 years old when it was buried.) In case you're wondering how the trees came to become petrified -- they were buried by volcanic ash more than 3 million years ago. But they weren't discovered until the 19th century. Visit on a Sunday and you'll be treated to a naturalist-led walk on the Meadow Trail where you'll learn more about petrification.

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