
An aerial shot looking down on the Washington Grasslands section of the park, with Rashid Johnson’s artwork Blocks and Yutaka Sone’s Little Manhattan visible, both 2015 Commissions.
Railroads were one of the most significant early forces of change to the landscape of North America. They not only moved freight and people but they participated in opening up the newly formed National Parks to visitors with the creation of the now iconic grand hotels.

Some of the railway’s original train tracks were marked and put back in their original locations. You’ll see them throughout the park today. Photo by Rick Darke
But as roads began to rival rails the network underwent a steady decline, and fewer and fewer resources were being put into their maintenance.
Fast forward a century–give or take a decade–and we find railroads, or at least rail corridors, going back to one of their greatest historical traits; as a pathway to nature.
In the 1980s the U.S. Congress passed an amendment allowing the use of soon-to-be-abandoned rail lines for hiking and biking trails.The highly successful “Rails-to-Trails” program has lead to nearly 1,012 rail-trails in the U.S. with a total trail mileage of more than 11,000.
Not just a U.S. phenomenon, there are similar programs in Canada, Mexico, Europe and Australia, to name a few. (Tasmanian Trail anyone?) Continue reading →
Like this:
Like Loading...