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![Bicycle riders cross a bridge over the Youghiogheny River on the Great Allegheny Passage trail Bicycle riders cross a bridge over the Youghiogheny River on the Great Allegheny Passage trail](https://cdn.aarp.net/content/dam/aarpe/en/home/travel/vacation-ideas/outdoors/info-2021/rail-trails-for-biking/_jcr_content/root/container_main/container_body_main/container_body1/container_body_cf/container_image/articlecontentfragment/cfimage.coreimg.50.932.jpeg/content/dam/aarp/travel/trips/2021/04/1140-great-allegheny-passage-trail-2.jpg)
It turns out that the same things that make for a good train route — gentle grades and access to town centers — are perfect for a bike ride, too. So when train companies began to abandon rail lines about 50 years ago, communities and states saw an unprecedented opportunity to convert them to trails.
Today, the nation's 2,100 rail trails range in length from a few miles to several hundred, and usually have bike-friendly restaurants and stores along the way.
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These are eight wonderful trails for an easy-riding day trip or, in some cases, a multiday cycling adventure. (Find more on the TrailLink website operated by the national Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.)
![two people riding bikes on a rails to trails bike trail in front of a tunnel two people riding bikes on a rails to trails bike trail in front of a tunnel](https://cdn.aarp.net/content/dam/aarpe/en/home/travel/vacation-ideas/outdoors/info-2021/rail-trails-for-biking/_jcr_content/root/container_main/container_body_main/container_body1/container_body_cf/body_one_cf_one/par3/articlecontentfragme/cfimage.coreimg.50.932.jpeg/content/dam/aarp/travel/trips/2021/04/1140-george-s-mickelson-trail.jpg)
George S. Mickelson Trail
Distance: 109 miles from Deadwood to Edgemont, South Dakota
No need to get on a horse for a Wild West adventure. Just hop on a bike. This crushed gravel and limestone path leads through the ponderosa pine forests and high plains of South Dakota's Black Hills. Along the way, the trail crosses 100 converted railroad bridges and passes through four hard rock tunnels. Your outing can start (or end) in the former gold boomtown of Deadwood, where Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok once roamed, and now home once again to gambling halls.
Mickelson Trail Adventures and Rabbit Bicycles offer rentals and shuttles to all 15 trailheads.
Insider tip: Cyclists can easily detour to landmarks like the Crazy Horse Monument and Custer State Park.
![Great Allegheny Passage Bike Rail Trail Great Allegheny Passage Bike Rail Trail](https://cdn.aarp.net/content/dam/aarpe/en/home/travel/vacation-ideas/outdoors/info-2021/rail-trails-for-biking/_jcr_content/root/container_main/container_body_main/container_body1/container_body_cf/body_one_cf_one/par8/articlecontentfragme/cfimage.coreimg.50.932.jpeg/content/dam/aarp/travel/trips/2021/04/1140-great-allegheny-passage-bike-rail-trail.jpg)
The Great Allegheny Passage
Distance: 148.5 miles from Cumberland, Maryland, to Pittsburgh
Follow the path of early western settlers on this route across the Mason-Dixon Line, over the Eastern Continental Divide and alongside wild rivers and wilderness parks.
Cumberland-based Wheelzup Adventures rents bikes and offers shuttles going all the way to Pittsburgh, or you can use Amtrak to carry your bike. With hotels and bed and breakfasts along the way, many riders make this a four-day trip. To double the fun, the trail connects with the 184.5-mile C&O Canal National Historical Park towpath, which stretches east to Washington, D.C., all together making for an epic 333-mile ride.
Insider tip: The trail town of Cumberland offers plenty of surprises, including a tunnel under a church once used by the Underground Railroad.
![Monterey Bay Coastal Trail Monterey Bay Coastal Trail](https://cdn.aarp.net/content/dam/aarpe/en/home/travel/vacation-ideas/outdoors/info-2021/rail-trails-for-biking/_jcr_content/root/container_main/container_body_main/container_body1/container_body_cf/body_one_cf_one/par13/articlecontentfragme/cfimage.coreimg.50.932.jpeg/content/dam/aarp/travel/trips/2021/04/1140-monterey-bay-coastal-trail.jpg)
Monterey Bay Coastal Recreation Trail
Distance: 18 miles from Pacific Grove to Castroville, California
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