The Mount Vernon Trail has secured a place in Rails to Trails Conservancy’s catalog of the nation’s best trails.
Trails advocacy organization Rails to Trails Conservancy announced that the Mount Vernon Trail received 58% of public votes to win the Hall of Fame accolade. The other nominees were National Battlefield Trail in Texas and the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail in Ohio. Public voting was open from Aug. 5 to 16.
“At a moment when we are taking stock of RTC’s impact over the past 40 years, and we reflect on America’s 250th birthday, the Mount Vernon Trail brings to life both the story of the country’s founding and the community organizing and volunteerism at the heart of the trails movement,” said Ryan Chao, Rails to Trails Conservancy’s president. “It is a symbol of what is possible for communities nationwide.”
The Mount Vernon Trail originated from the efforts of Alexandria women Ellen Pickering and Barbara Lynch in the early 1970s to get a safe trail for walking and biking. Opened as a gravel trail in 1972, it was expanded and paved in sections by the National Park Service starting in the late 1970s. Efforts of volunteers, from creating the first trail segment to maintaining the trail today, are kept alive by the Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail.
“The Hall of Fame designation is a testament to the impact individuals have when they show up for trails,” said Judd Isbell, president of the Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail. “The Mount Vernon Trail exists because of the efforts of countless community members and volunteers who built the first segment of trail and advocated for continued expansion and investment.”
The 18.5-mile Mount Vernon Trail runs along the Potomac River from Theodore Roosevelt Island in Arlington to George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate. Highlights of the trail include views of the Washington Monument and Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials across the river, connections to the Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve, Old Town Alexandria, the oldest remaining original District of Columbia boundary marker and only remaining riverine lighthouse at Jones Point Park and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove within Lady Bird Johnson Park.
According to National Park Service data, more than 1.4 million residents and visitors use the trail annually. The trail is a key segment in plans to develop the Capital Trails Network, which will connect more than 1,000 miles of trails across D.C., Maryland and Virginia. That regional network is just over 50% complete.
The Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail regularly hosts volunteer events and collects donations to upgrade trail amenities. The group also won the “Trail of the Year” award from the Public Lands Alliance in February.
