Kevin Belle and the Great American Rail-Trail
Kevin Belle is Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s Project Manager for the Great American Rail-Trail, an east-west route that connects trails and paths in 12 states between Washington, D.C., and Washington state.
Kevin and I met in graduate school at the University of Oregon, where we were both interested in biking and walking as transportation. Kevin’s first bicycle tour was from Eugene, Oregon, to the Pacific coast, and we went together. A few months after that tour, he graduated and followed my blog as I pedaled across the country.
Kevin holds a Master of Community and Regional Planning and a Master of Environmental Studies. He joined Rails-to-Trails (RTC) in 2016 and has been involved in and leading development of the Great American Rail-Trail since then.
Kevin enjoys running, biking, performing in drag shows, and hosting trivia events as Whiskey Ginger. Earlier this year, Kevin realized one of his life goals and competed in four rounds of Jeopardy! He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with his husband and two cats.
H: Let’s start with Wyoming, a gorgeous and austere place with not many people and more bison than miles of trail.
K: Right? There are about 20 miles of trail finished out of 500 needed to complete the route in Wyoming right now. As you know from growing up there and biking across the state, services are a distance apart. As we work on developing the trail, we want to be clear about what people can expect right now and encourage alternatives for people looking for a rail-trail experience, like they could experience on the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) trail.
We’ve been doing a lot of outreach in the state to raise awareness and talk about the benefits of trails. Cowboy State Daily recently interviewed me about the trail, “3,700-Mile Cross-Country ‘Rail-Trail’ Will Include 500 miles across Wyoming – If It Ever Happens.” That headline is a little pessimistic – I’m confident that it will happen one day. We’ll probably need to be creative about what the trail in Wyoming looks like, but the solution needs to come from the grassroots. Locals have to want it. We’re happy to support the state with resources and collaborating when it’s warranted and helpful.
Click the image for more details on the gaps in Wyoming and the existing and planned trails.
H: I love that you have champions in the state, and concentrating on a catalyst project in the Casper-Douglas area makes great sense. There aren’t many population centers in Wyoming, but that’s one.
What was your first RTC scoping trip to Wyoming like?
K: That was such a fun time. We drove because there was so much distance to cover, and I have fond memories of Swedish Fish as a road trip treat. My co-worker, Eli, and I availed ourselves of the hot tub in Casper’s C’mon Inn. That trip was the first time I saw Pronghorn antelope! Plus, my colleague, Marianne, is amazing. She’s been advocating for trails for decades.
Kevin and Marianne in Greybull, WY
H: What are some things about Marianne that make her such a wonderful travel companion?
K: She has the best memory and tells amazing stories. She was active in the movement to pass the equal rights amendment and is an all-around inspiring person who has taught me a lot. She also encourages me to slow down. My tendency is to run from one thing to the next.
H: I love that Marianne prompts you around slow travel. What do you notice when you go more slowly?
Kevin and Marianne in La Push, WA, out of reach of a Pacific Ocean wave.
K: As far as work goes, we don’t have as many people on the ground in the west, so when I go on these scoping trips, I try to make the most of each one. Meeting people virtually has been a meaningful aid in building and maintaining relationships, but it’s not a replacement for face-to-face meetings. When I’m with Marianne, we don’t do five days straight and meet 100 people, which is what my tendency is. I know it’s not the best thing for me to maintain a packed schedule like that either. Also, when I meet with members of indigenous communities, having a one-hour meeting where I go in and out doesn’t work. They want to get to know me/us and spend time, which is great. Even as I say that, I know I could invest more time in building relationships.
In my personal life, I’m less inclined to go slow, but that’s more about the pace of my life and not necessarily my travel preferences.
Rocky Point Creamery, Maryland. Near C&O Canal National Historic Park.
H: Slow travel can mean many things and be many speeds. The Great American Rail-Trail seems suited to slow travel. Does this factor in how you advocate for the Trail?
K: We know during the pandemic trail use went up 200%. People want trails in their communities and see them as a necessity. Jon Synder, Senior Policy Advisor in Washington Governor Inslee’s Office, considers trails a silver bullet in terms of outdoor recreation. Trails allow people to get around less expensively and with less carbon consumption. When people travel on trails, they’re far more likely to stop in towns and buy things instead of flying by on the highway. I see how trail-based tourism is diversifying economies, especially in rural areas and places where the economies have been based on extractive industries. We know this is a bipartisan issue and once people understand it, they can really get behind it.
Trails are also a way to manage effects of visitation in popular tourist areas. It’s a way to limit the number of vehicles in a destination area since trail users aren’t driving everywhere. Because trail users are traveling more slowly, they’re more likely to spend time in the town, get to know the people who live there, and discover what makes the community or place unique.
I’ve pedaled all the open sections of the Great American Rail-Trail between central Indiana and Washington, DC. Last summer, I was out with a friend pedaling off-road from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh. We got shuttled through a section one day because there was no off-road option, and the road was frightening – it was one lane in each direction with trucks and fast vehicles. I appreciate how that experience made me want to help speed up this process of filling in the trail gaps.
H: Did you ever ride on the Interstate section in Wyoming?
Trail ride in Casper, WY
K: I have not yet pedaled much in Wyoming or Montana. Both of those states have the biggest gaps in trail right now. People are always asking the best way to get through this area, and we are working to identify an interim route on existing infrastructure (roads and trails) from Chadron, Nebraska, to St. Regis, Montana, which should be available in the near future.
Chadron is the far western end of the Cowboy Trail. Nebraska’s Game and Parks Commission manages the Cowboy Trail. There are still segments of the 325-mile trail to complete, and the section into Chadron, which is a college town, is almost done. There’s an amazing, “haunted” hotel in Chadron, Olde Main Street Inn. The proprietor had a shrine to her deceased mother in the basement, and the suites Marianne and I stayed in were named after generals.
H: Nice. I love learning about quirky or interesting places to visit. I have yet to stay at a historic hotel I didn’t like.
K: I appreciate that my work takes me to these small towns and gives me a reason to meet the trail advocates. Without this work, I would not have encountered these people, but I love them and the relationships I’ve developed. It’s so important to meet people face-to-face.
H: Where are places that are on your map now because of the people?
K: Three Forks and Livingston, Montana, are two examples of places I’ve gotten to spend time in and fall in love with and would likely have never spent time in before.
H: What three trail areas would you recommend people visit?
K: For spectacular scenery, Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park. The Olympic Discovery Trail goes along the lake. I was astounded by the water’s color. I felt like I was in a Peter Jackson movie when I was there. The beauty is unreal.
H: Yes! I did some pedaling along the Olympic Discovery Trail last year.
From Heidi’s August 2022 pedal along Lake Crescent
K: The High Trestle Trail in Iowa is also quite scenic. The bridge kind of looks like you’re in an old mine shaft, and the squares rotate around the bridge. I got to walk across it once. I’d love to visit at night because it’s a light experience, too.
The Great American Rail-Trail goes through all four of the I states
Outside of Chadron, Nebraska, is Fort Robinson where the Northern Cheyenne are developing a four-mile Healing Trail to recognize a historic journey when the Northern Cheyenne people traveled back to their homeland and the hardships they endured, largely at the hands of the settlers and US government. The trail adds to the Northern Cheyenne monument, completed in 2016, by encouraging travelers to rest and reflect on the traditional Cheyenne principles of respect, knowledge, wisdom, and spirituality.
Slow travel ties in well with the hope for this trail segment. The Northern Cheyenne welcome visitors to this place but ask that visitors travel slowly, to learn about what happened there. Bikes will be welcome, but it may be that bicycle riders will be asked to walk their bikes on this segment.
H: I like how the Great American Rail-Trail gives people of all abilities access to outdoor recreation. I recently interviewed Whitney Washington, who pedaled the Great American Rail-Trail in 2020. You don’t have to be a daredevil or a steely-witted person to adventure on the Trail. It’s also much more pleasant to experience nature and the outdoors away from traffic.
K: Have you heard of Warrior Expeditions? It’s a non-profit that organizes outdoor adventures for returning veterans. They used to follow Adventure Cycling Association’s TransAmerica Trail, but they reached out to us and have been following along on the Great American Rail-Trail for the last three years. There are still 1,700 miles of road segments on the Trail, but any amount of off-road travel reduces stress. The townspeople welcome the travelers in to stay with them. Connections like this are another benefit trails provide.
H: Since we’re on the topic of access and inclusion, what’s your experience as a gay man recreating outdoors?
K: I have had few bad experiences because of that, but I think it’s because I come from such a place of privilege. I’m white and male. I’m comfortable outdoors, and I look like I belong there. I can pass as straight if I try hard. I’m trying to do that less and less because code switching is not healthy. That’s part of why I talked about doing drag during my recent appearances on national TV on Jeopardy! It’s also scary because it’s such a hot-button issue right now. Drag is fun and an interest of mine, and I want to talk about it.
Kevin Belle and Ken Jennings - Jeopardy Game 1!
Kevin as Whiskey Ginger with a photobomb from Leo the cat’s tail
When I’m out and about, people ask me about my wife when they see my wedding ring, and, well, it’s my husband. I got married and took my husband’s name. I’m not shy about that, but in the beginning… Do you remember Matthew Shepard? That fence he was tied to when he was brutally murdered sticks in my head, and every time I go out west, there’s a tiny piece of that teenage, closeted kid in me who sees those fences in Wyoming, and I get really uncomfortable. It’s visceral. It just happens.
Kevin and his husband, Darren
H: Do you have any safety rules for yourself when you’re outdoors?
K: My husband would wish I had more [laughs]. I don’t do big things outside alone much. I also don’t live in an area where I can be remote. I have a good observation skills, so if it feels like someone’s going to be weird, I’ll avoid them. I also have the privilege of being able to do so. I “belong” in these spaces. I can pass through and no one will even know I’m there because I’m a basic-looking white guy.
H: How do you see the future of travel?
K: I think we’ll have to move away from individualistic thinking that has us doing whatever we want whenever we want as quickly as we want. Americans especially, we’ve created terrible problems with climate and beyond in the way we’ve laid out our communities and transportation. As a nation, what gets us to understand that? I still see travel happening in the future, but I imagine we’ll be measured about which trips to take. Instead of traveling a great distance, we could explore our local communities more.
I don’t live near a place that has grand adventures like in the mountains or something, so I need to find a way to have experiences like that within my own life even if it’s not the Instagram-worthy posts of me climbing the biggest mountains.
There’s a nice trail by the creek near my house. That’s my outdoor Adventure. I still want to have big, sexy experiences, as I think we all do, but I doubt we’ll be able to do it on the scale we have done it.
H: During the pandemic, I basically quit riding my bike but walked the trail by my house every day. Was I still an adventurer if I wasn’t doing something epic like biking across the country? I grew into accepting that I was. As I’ve been thinking about slow travel more, I realize that finding a way to make an hour-long wander from home an epic adventure is one of the principles. (My walk with Shelli Romero in her neighborhood was an example of local slow travel.) It’s about paying attention to the richness of life all around you.
Add your name and voice to support the Great American Rail-Trail. The more people who pledge their support, the better traction RTC has in filling the trail gaps and making this big vision real.
Find trails near you or segments of the Great American Rail-Trail to explore using RTC’s online trail database, TrailLink.com.
When you’re out on your next Adventure, whether that’s your neighborhood trail or your latest epic Adventure, share your experiences on social media by using the tag #TrailMoments in your posts.
Kevin is on Instagram @bywayofthetrail and @whiskeygingerdrag.
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