by James M. Grasso Midwest Regional Office, National Park Service

What's within a two-hour drive of a major urban area, is long and thin, and is marked by red, white, and blue triangular signs? If you said, "National Recreation Trails," you're right! Since the first National Recreation Trail (the Pinnell Mountain Trail in Alaska) was made part of the National Trails System in 1971, over 600 high-quality trails have been accorded national recognition as NRTs.

Authorized by the National Trails System Act, signed into law by President Johnson in 1968, National Recreation Trails are designated by the Secretary of the Interior (or by the Secretary of Agriculture if on National Forest lands). Why NRTs? They are intended to encourage trail management agencies and organizations to build outstanding trails and to give recognition to fine examples of state, local, and privately owned trails near urban areas (thus, the requirement that the trail be within a two-hour drive of a major urban area; trails that are further out may be designated NRTs only if they are on federal lands).

Commendable, you say. The Cincinnati Park Board thought so. So did the Champaign (IL) Park District, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and the park and recreation departments in Detroit, Lakeville (MN), and Tippecanoe County (IN). All have applied for—and received—NRT status for trails that they administer. Of the National Recreation Trails thus far in existence, 17% are administered by local units of government, 11% by the states, 4% by private organizations, 54% by the U.S. Forest Service, and the remaining 14% by other federal agencies.

NRTs include hiking trails (Starved Rock State Park Trails in Illinois, for example), rural bicycle trails (Elroy-Sparta State Trail in Wisconsin), trails in areas of outstanding natural beauty (Grandma Gatewood Memorial Hiking Trail in Ohio), historical trails (Lincoln Boyhood Trail in Indiana), nature trails (Shiawassee Wildlife Hiking Trail in Michigan), urban bike

Portage County's Towner's Woods National Recreation Trail near Ravenna, Ohio makes extensive use of rustic wooden stairs along its more hilly sections.

Illinois Parks and Recreation   28    March/April 1982

Trails (the Dayton River Bikeway), cross-country ski trails (Ritter Farm Park Trail in Minnesota), trails for the handicapped (Harriet L. Keeler Woodland Trail near Cleveland), and backpack trails (Vesuvius Backpack Trail in Ohio). National Recreation Trails must be "on the ground" (or "in the water" for water trails, a type of trail now eligible for NRT status), must be continuous, and be open to the public for at least two consecutive years after designation. And no, National Recreation Trail designation does not entail any federal control over your trail.

What's in it for my park and recreation department? For starters, there is a free set of distinctive red, white, and blue trail signs and markers. Then there are a colorful certificate signed by the Secretary of the Interior (great for publicity photos!), enhanced status for your high-quality trail, media publicity for the trail and your programs, and the satisfaction that comes with enriching the National Trails System. But even more important, NRT status helps provide local support for your trails program through a sense of local pride which can result in increased funding for trail maintenance and indirect protection for the trail.

Where do I get application information? Simple write me at the National Park Service's Midwest Regional Office, 1709 Jackson Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68102 or call me at (402) 221-3481. LET'S MAKE YOUR OUTSTANDING TRAIL A RED, WHITE, AND BLUE TRAIL!

Illinois Parks and Recreation   29    March/April 1982