Announcement comes in advance of Saturday's National Trails Day
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Director of the National Park Service Jonathan B. Jarvis today announced the designation of 54 trails as national recreation trails, adding almost 1,400miles of trails to the National Trails System. Spanning 23 states, the land and water trails provide opportunities for communities to connect to the great outdoors.
“From Alabama to Alaska, these national recreation trails provide a gateway to outdoor recreation in both urban and rural areas,” said Secretary Salazar. "I am proud to partner with communities across the nation to expand this extraordinary network of trails, allowing more Americans to enjoy the great outdoors.”
Today's announcement comes in advance of National Trails Day on Saturday, June 2, when hundreds of organized activities – including hikes, educational programs, bike rides, trail rehabilitation projects, festivals, paddle trips, and trail dedications – will take place around the country. A listing of activities is available at http://www.americanhiking.org/national-trails-day/.
“Today's trails join a network of more than 1,150 previously-designated trails that span more than 13,650 miles,.” said Director Jarvis. “As we celebrate National Trails Day on Saturday, I encourage everyone to explore a trail – new or old – and enjoy the natural world.”
The national trail system has become so extensive that if all the trails were laid end to end they would cross the entire country more than four times, offering millions of Americans opportunities to bike, hike, paddle and spend time with their family and friends outdoors, Jarvis noted.
National recreation trail designation recognizes existing trails and trail systems that link communities to recreational opportunities on public lands and in local parks across the nation. Each of the new national recreation trails will receive a certificate of designation, a letter of congratulations from Secretary Salazar, and a set of trail markers.
The national recreation trail program is jointly administered by the National Park Service and the USDA Forest Service in conjunction with a number of other federal and nonprofit partners, notably American Trails, which hosts the national recreation trails website at http://www.americantrails.org/nationalrecreationtrails.
The following 54 trails have been designated as national recreation trails. For more information on each trail, please click here.
ALABAMA
ALASKA
CALIFORNIA
COLORADO
CONNECTICUT
FLORIDA
GEORGIA
ILLINOIS
INDIANA
IOWA
MICHIGAN
MINNESOTA
MISSISSIPPI
NEW MEXICO
NEW YORK
NORTH CAROLINA
OREGON
TENNESSEE
TEXAS
VIRGINIA
WASHINGTON
WEST VIRGINIA
WISCONSIN