Rails to Trails Conservancy has outlined new construction, openings and land acquisition along its cross-country trail, underscoring the scale of the long-term project.
Rails to Trails Conservancy, also known as RTC, has reported fresh progress on the Great American Rail-Trail as the organisation’s signature project marks seven years of development. Work and openings this spring across Ohio, Indiana, Nebraska, Wyoming and Washington State are advancing a planned 3,700-plus-mile multiuse route between Washington, D.C., and Washington State. The update frames the trail as both a major recreation project and a long-term effort to connect communities through shared public infrastructure.
The route crosses 12 states and, according to RTC, is intended to serve 50 million people living within 50 miles of the trail, alongside additional visitors from around the world. Since the route was introduced in 2019, more than 125 miles of new trail have been completed, while more than $161 million in federal, state, local and private funding has been invested in advancing the project. RTC said the Great American is nearly 56% complete, with more than 160 additional miles currently in the development pipeline.
Among the latest developments, an agreement with Norfolk Southern allows London, Ohio, to advance plans to complete the Ohio to Erie Trail through the town. The work would address the final 0.8 miles needed for a seamless 104-mile connection between Dayton and the northern Columbus suburbs. In Indiana, the Miami Central Trail opened in Bunker Hill on April 25, 2026, adding five miles to the route and bringing the connected segment there to 11.9 miles. Plans to close remaining gaps could eventually extend connected mileage in the region to more than 35 miles.
Other projects include the opening of the first mile of the Cowboy Trail Connection in Chadron, Nebraska, on April 25, 2026, with four miles still needed to connect fully with the state’s more than 200-mile Cowboy Recreation and Nature Trail. In Casper, Wyoming, three new miles extended the Platte River Trail to the doorstep of Edness Kimball Wilkins State Park, while the next phase is planned to add a safer crossing of Old Glenrock Highway. In Washington State, initial segments of the Sound to Olympics Trail in Kitsap County’s Port Gamble Park were reported as opening in spring 2026.
RTC said the developments demonstrate how work in separate states can build towards a single national corridor, while also creating links to destinations within local communities. The organisation estimates that the completed route could unlock more than $229 million in annual spending in the communities it serves as it is further developed. With the project also set against RTC’s 40th anniversary and the United States’ 250th birthday, the latest update presents the Great American Rail-Trail as an enduring civic and recreational undertaking whose eventual impact will depend on continued construction and connection of its remaining gaps.
