Making headway on trails

Saturday was National Trails Day, which makes today a better day than most to expound, evaluate and dream on the subject of trails locally and statewide.

Central Virginians have it good, far better than most urban areas, in the amount and quality of paths suitable for walking, running, biking and other outdoor pursuits.

The trails of the James River Park System are nationally known and recognized. The XTERRA triathlon series stops here every year because of them, and the group's "Fugitive 10K" held the day before the triathlon recently was named a top-32 trail race in the nation by Runner's World Magazine.

City parks such as Forest Hill, Powhite and Larus burnish our reputation as a trail city. And Chesterfield County's Pocahontas State Park boasts roughly 80 miles of trails.

What we lack, however, is a greenway system that would connect these trails and green spaces. Just as important, greenways connect communities to each other and to natural areas. They offer recreational and often commuting opportunities for residents of the neighborhoods these paths pass through.

"For a long time, Richmond has fallen behind some of other places in terms of [greenway] development," said Jennifer Wampler, the trails coordinator for the Department of Conservation and Recreation. "I think that's changing. The mayor has shown real leadership in having the bike/pedestrian commission."

Among the commission's recommendations approved by City Council this year was the creation of a new position, bike/pedestrian coordinator.

This is a step in the right direction.

It shows our commitment to the health and economic benefits trails and greenways provide. Wampler mentioned long-distance paths such as Arlington's W&OD Trail, used by weekday commuters and families out for a little exercise, and the Virginia Capital Trail, as examples to emulate.

"Once people start seeing what a trail means to a community, it's just going to be very contagious."

Statewide, there is much to explore and much on the drawing board.

In state parks, historic sites and natural-area preserves, all DCR-owned land, there are more than 500 miles of trails. The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries' Wildlife Management Areas offer hundreds more miles, and the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests have untold miles in the western part of the state.

Virginia is hiking heaven, but listening to Wampler makes you realize how much better it could be.

An expanded network of linked long-distance trails, she said, could have the same effect on the state as greenways do in communities.

We already have Bike Route 1, which runs from Maine to Florida; Bike Route 76, which runs from Yorktown to the Mississippi River in Illinois; and, of course, the Appalachian Trail.

The most recent Virginia Outdoors Plan identified as priorities five others: the Great Eastern Trail, the East Coast Greenway, the Beaches to Bluegrass Trail, the James River Heritage Trail and the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail.

The idea of the GET is to provide a "more solitary ... more remote" alternative to the AT for hikers. Much of the trail system, running along Virginia's border with West Virginia, is already there for hikers, Wampler said. It's just not yet marked the way the AT is.

The ECG's route through Virginia also has been mapped out, she said, "but it's on road most of the way, and we eventually want to get it off road so that families can use it."

The other three are conceptual, now, but offer tantalizing possibilities. The James River Heritage Trail, for instance, would be a footpath and a water trail, following the river from its headwaters to its mouth.

The Beaches to Bluegrass Trail would be anchored by the already extant Tobacco Heritage Trail and would run parallel to the North Carolina border.

As the state makes headway on these long-distance trails and Richmond advances its plan to connect communities and natural areas with greenways, it's tempting, and not unreasonable, to imagine a time when every day is trails day.