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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It's A Green Washington, DC

When I'm in Washington, DC and the lines are building around the all too familiar sights, including the monuments around the National Mall, I head to two of my two favorite museums, which see fewer crowds: the International Spy Museum -- probably because, as a kid, I always wanted to be a spook -- and the National Museum of the American Indian -- because I studied Native American religions in college. At this latter museum, the landscaping is a vital part of the museum, which completely reflects Native American culture and beliefs.

You probably are well aware that I prefer to spend most of my time outdoors, exploring the serene side of cities. These are highlights of green spaces in and around Washington, DC.



1. Just minutes from the Metro, Theodore Roosevelt Island provides the opportunity to walk trails deep into a forest lush with hickory, oak and sycamore. Many hikers comment how this island feels like a vast wilderness, though it's just stretches barely 90 acres.

2. The Mt. Vernon Trail is an 18-mile path that allows you to bike, jog or walk from Theodore Roosevelt Island to Mount Vernon. Paralleling the Potomac River, the trail gives you places to fish and picnic, bird watch in Dyke Marsh Wildlife habitat or rest among white pines in the Lady Bird Johnson Park



3. The unexpected is surely alive at Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens, which is not only a national park but it has the distinction of being the only one devoted to water plants. While so many of the district's wetlands that were long used by the Native Americans have since been obliterated, luckily, in the 19th century, Walter Shaw, a nature lover, bought this land and cultivated water-loving plants. As a result, the land still retains some of its original wetlands that border the Anacostia River. And, carpeting the property is an abundance of water plants, more than 100,000, including rare lotuses and water lilies. But, when wandering about, take the time to walk the short River Trail that runs from the marsh that surrounds the gardens to the river. You'll likely be able to observe blue herons, muskrats and beaver.

4. Dumbarton Oaks Gardens is a welcome retreat from the heat and chaos of downtown D.C. This ten-acre terraced property, a private estate, has plenty of winding paths and walkways past cherry trees, lilacs, dogwood, pools and fountains. What makes this site so unique is it's design: you'll prowl around the property and find different spaces or garden rooms, as they're referred to, that are only visible once you've stepped into each. This effect is achieved by virtue of gates, walls and a plethora of other barriers that make this garden a wealth of surprises.

5. Just five miles from the White House, Rock Creek Park remains as wild, in parts, as in the 1800s. Don't be surprised to see deer in the almost 1,800 acres of fields and ravines and forest lush with dogwood, beech and sassafras. Hikers and walkers enjoy the six-mile Blue Trail that follows the east side of the creek or the equally long Green Trail on the western ridge of the park.

6. The 184-mile Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, aka C & O, towpath is a quiet, shaded path where mules once towed boats carrying coal, timber and tobacco, can be tackled by joggers and cyclists alike. You certainly don't have to do the whole path. In fact, it's quite common to see weekend athletes running or biking a small portion of this trail after work or on a weekend afternoon.

7. A short drive from the Capitol, Great Falls Park is a perfect venue for experienced kayakers who negotiate treacherous rapids as the Potomac speeds over jagged rocks and drops almost 80 feet in one mile. Stretching along the Potomac, the park also provides several hiking trails where walkers scramble over rocks, stop at bluffs for spectacular views of the narrow Mather Gorge, and trek through forests and swamps.

8. More leisurely treks are found at the U.S. National Arboretum, which occupies more than 400,000 acres. Visitors can wander through the Fern Valley on a path along a stream and across a prairie and meadow. An extensive network of trails leads to a garden of dwarf conifers, an elaborate herb garden with 800 kinds of herbs and an Asian collection along the Anacostia River.


After all this walking, jogging, hiking or biking, at the end of a day I prefer to unwind at the chic Hotel Palomar DC, a boutique property that's not only conveniently located near the Metro, but also offers a complementary wine tasting.

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