9/11 Trail Alliance Charts Course

The September 11th National Memorial Trail Alliance has a bold vision: Construct a 1,000-mile bike trail that links the sites and national memorials of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The League was honored to host the Alliance’s board and committee members for their board meeting on Friday.

The planned trail would link the three sites of that day: the Pentagon in Arlington, Va.; the former location of the World Trade Center in New York City; and Shanksville, Pa.

The Washington Post notes that “from the Pentagon, the trail connects with the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park and follows it 184 miles to Cumberland, Md. It continues along the recently completed 150-mile Great Allegheny Passage to Pittsburgh before turning east for another 25 miles to Shanksville. The 530-mile Shanksville-New York leg will follow roads and trails — some already built, some being created — through New Jersey and then to Manhattan. The 337-mile leg from New York back to the Pentagon will follow the East Coast Greenway, a trail being developed for non-motorized use and dubbed the “urban equivalent of the Appalachian Trail.”

We’re grateful for the Alliance’s great work, and look forward to riding the trail one day soon!