When I pedaled my aged Rockhopper mountain bike on an out-and-back ride on the John Wayne Pioneer Trail last summer, I had no idea that I was riding the most popular rail-trail destination in North America.
I only saw about a dozen people on bicycles on my 50-mile ride, and no hikers. Maybe the reason was because it was the middle of the week and the trail starts at a park about 35 miles from Seattle.
In any case, based on internet traffic to its 44,000 trails listed at Trails.com, the former railroad grade of the Milwaukee Road is judged the most popular rail-trail. The votes comprise page views, trail downloads and trail rankings.
The website lists the top 20 at Best Rail-Trails Destinations, which I'll repeat below.
Interestingly, the John Wayne Pioneer Trail is the only trail on the most popular list that's located west of the Mississippi River.
Tragically, the trail also is the site of the closure of five tunnels “until further notice” due to falling debris in the 90-plus year-old passages. Those tunnel closures include the 2.3-mile-long Snoqualmie Tunnel that passes through a mountain near the crest of the Snoqualmie Pass, as well as four other trails to the east.
The action creates a major obstacle to bicycling the entire 109-mile distance of the trail from Cedar Falls in the west to the Columbia river in the east. In some cases, cyclists will have to detour out to I-90 to get around some of the closed-off sections. (See: State closes all five Iron Horse tail tunnel indefinitely)
The trail passes through spectacular scenery in the Cascade Range, with many overlooks on soaring railroad trestles and trailside rock outcrops.
The state parks department, which operates the trail, has put in for stimulus funds and budgeted repairs in its biennial budget.
Here's the top 20 list, with links to abbreviated descriptions at Trails.com:
1. John Wayne Pioneer Trail — Washington state
2. Old Crofton Aqueduct Trail — New York
3. Farmington Canal Linear State Park — Connecticut
4. Cape Cod Rail Trail — Massachusetts
5. New River Trail State Park — Virginia
6. Ghost Town Trail — Pennsylvania
7. Lehigh Gorge State Park — Pennsylvania
8. Stony Valley Rail Trail — Pennsylvania
9. Greenbrier River Trail — West Virginia
10. Mohawk Hudson Bikeway — New York
11. The Grand Canyon — Pennsylvania
12. Lehigh Gorge — Pennsylvania
13. Newfields Rail Trail — New Hamshire
14. Pinelass Trail — Florida
15. Minuteman Bikeway — Massachusetts
16. North County Trailway — New York
17. Withlacoochee Trail — Florida
18. Airline State Park Trail — Connecticut
19. Delaware & Raritan Canal — New Jersey
20. Ashuelot Rail Trail — New Hampshire
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