![\"Trail](\"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/TrailTownsHeader.jpg\")
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One of the places where outdoor recreation, particularly hiking or bicycling on major trails, meshes nicely with rural economic development programs is at trail towns. \u00a0Some local government and private agencies promote communities as trail towns after the\u00a0towns\u00a0develop linkages to trail systems, provide services of interest to hikers and bicyclists and show that they are committed to giving these recreationists a positive experience. \u00a0The idea is to provide\u00a0trail users that visit\u00a0these small towns\u00a0with the services and experiences they want,\u00a0giving the town more economic activity. \u00a0In other cases ‘trail towns’ is simply a generic term applied to towns near a trail. \u00a0These towns provide services to trail users without a formal designation. \u00a0Either way, trail towns that cater to trail users create\u00a0a win-win situation.<\/p>\n
![\"Youghiogheny](\"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Youghiogheny_River_gorge_from_great_allegheny_passage.jpg\")
<\/a>Youghiogheny River Gorge from the Great Allegheny Passage. The state\u00a0has developed a 65-page workbook<\/a> to help towns meet the requirements for state certification as a trail town and thus become a part of the state’s promotional efforts. \u00a0To begin, a\u00a0town:<\/p>\n Next, a town must assess the potential for economic development associated with nearby trails. They then\u00a0develop an action\u00a0plan that includes\u00a0all the work needed to get trail users into town, including developing of connecter trails, and to provide them with an appropriate experience in the community. \u00a0Finally, they implement the plan and obtain state certification.<\/p>\n Cape Horn in the Columbia River Gorge. Friends of the Columbia Gorge<\/a>, in Washington and Oregon, are working on an effort that connects rural towns to trails in and around the gorge. \u00a0Their program began in 2011 and has a goal of creating 60 miles of trails that connect towns along the Gorge to\u00a0National Scenic Area lands. Their stated goals are to:<\/p>\n Going even further, \u00a0the program includes seasonal bus service that, for $4 a day, gives hikers access to nine trail heads and communities in the Gorge.<\/p>\n The Pacific Northwest Trail Association has a user driven program<\/a> that identifies trail towns where hikers can resupply and otherwise serve their needs. \u00a0They provide a map showing these towns<\/a> and a forum thread that highlights the services available at each trail town<\/a>. \u00a0Unlike the other programs, the focus is more on meeting the basic needs of hikers than on developing towns to better serve them while enhancing local economies.<\/p>\n As you can see there are several approaches to highlighting trail towns and connecting them to trail users. \u00a0The more effort communities put into becoming more attractive to trail users, the more those users will visit the community and the more economic activity\u00a0users will generate in the\u00a0community. \u00a0The concept definitely has merit. \u00a0If your town is near a major trail or even near a collection of local trails, \u00a0it could enhance its image as a trail town to benefit both trail users and the community. \u00a0You might want to look into the possibilities.<\/p>\n One of the places where outdoor recreation, particularly hiking or bicycling on major trails, meshes nicely with rural economic development programs is at trail towns. \u00a0Some local government and private agencies promote communities as trail towns after the\u00a0towns\u00a0develop linkages to trail systems, provide services of interest to hikers and bicyclists and show that they are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1534,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,25,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-policy","category-projects"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1524"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1536,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1524\/revisions\/1536"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Photo by Jacob Brown [CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>]<\/p><\/div>The term “Trail Town Program<\/a>” is owned by and is\u00a0an initiative of\u00a0The Progress Fund<\/a>. \u00a0They work closely with 21\u00a0small rural towns across western Pennsylvania and western Maryland to enhance economic development through linkages with trails. \u00a0The towns are associated\u00a0with the\u00a0following trails:<\/p>\n\n
Trail Towns in Kentucky<\/h1>\n
The Kentucky Department of Travel and Tourism has it’s own Kentucky Trail Towns Program<\/a>. \u00a0The program is designed to help connect communities to trail systems and develop them as tourist destinations. It guides travelers to trails, food, lodging, campgrounds, museums, entertainment and other services. The designation helps communities improve their tourism economy, add more jobs and create more tourism opportunities for the entire state. \u00a0The state now has twelve\u00a0trail towns with more being regularly added.<\/p>\n\n
The Columbia River Gorge<\/h1>\n
<\/a>
USDA Forest Service Photo<\/p><\/div>\n\n
Pacific Northwest Trail<\/h1>\n
Conclusion<\/h1>\n
Please Share<\/h1>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"