Trails Don’t Sell Themselves

Reflections from the 2025 TrailNation Summit

Last month, Erica and I were able to make it to the Rails To Trails Conservancy’s TrailNation Summit here in Cleveland. Shout-out to the Summit’s organizers who provided a beautifully organized workbook that allowed me to take copious notes throughout the event. 

Attending the Summit reaffirmed something we see across nearly every trail, corridor, and outdoor recreation project we support: building the trail is only half the work. The other half is helping people understand it, use it, love it, and advocate for it.

During the plenary sessions, trail leaders and policymakers discussed funding, public health, rural development, and the economic impact of outdoor recreation. But woven throughout those conversations was another theme that rarely makes headlines but quietly determines whether a trail system thrives: Branding and marketing may be the missing pieces of trail infrastructure. Trails succeed not just because they exist, but because people understand their value.

One speaker noted how communities must “make the case for why these efforts matter to everyday people with so many other concerns weighing them down.” That line stuck with me. Most residents don’t wake up thinking about economic diversification, mobility corridors, or regional recreation networks. They think about:

• “Where can I take my kids this weekend?”
• “Is there a safe place to bike near my house?”
• “What’s happening in my downtown?”

Brand and communication strategy translate the technical into the tangible. They take a complex system and turn it into something a parent, a visitor, or a policymaker can immediately grasp. Without this translation, even the best-planned trail networks risk going unnoticed.

Branding Creates Identity and Identity Creates Advocacy

The Summit also highlighted how trail systems are increasingly tied to regional coalitions, tourism narratives, outdoor recreation offices, and talent attraction strategies. Communities are recognizing trails as long-term economic assets rather than standalone amenities.

But assets need identity. Identity needs consistency. Consistency builds advocacy. Branding helps coalitions rally behind a unified message. It doesn’t just make a trail look good, it makes it legible, fundable, and defensible.

Marketing Is What Turns a Scenic Path Into an Economic Engine

Several leaders talked about the connection between trails, small downtowns, entrepreneurship, and tourism. That connection isn’t automatic. It needs momentum.

Communities often underestimate how many people simply don’t know a trail exists or don’t know how to use it. Marketing closes that gap, transforming casual users into loyal advocates and nearby businesses into trail-driven economic partners.

Momentum comes from marketing and communication:

• Awareness campaigns
• Consistent digital presence
• Storytelling around local businesses and trail towns
• Events that invite people to experience the trail firsthand
• Wayfinding that helps a visitor discover cafés, restrooms, parking, and scenic spots

Coalitions need a common voice to unlock funding

This is becoming non-negotiable. When multiple agencies, jurisdictions, or nonprofits each communicate in their own way, the message becomes fragmented and confusing. Funders want clarity: What is the vision? What’s the plan? Who’s leading? Why should this region receive support?

A unified brand and communication plan strengthens everything from federal and state funding applications to on-the-ground coordination. It creates consistency in regional and cross-county messaging, builds public support for long-term maintenance and investment, and helps align partnerships with outdoor recreation offices and economic development entities. In other words, communication isn’t an “extra”—it’s leverage.

Trails Need More Than Maps and Signs

We talk a lot about the difference between navigation and experience. Trails are a perfect example of where the two overlap. A trail sign helps you get where you’re going. A trail brand helps you understand why that journey matters.

The TrailNation Summit reinforced something we see in many of the places we work: If a community wants its trail system to shape its economy, identity, and future, it must invest in more than asphalt and timber. It must invest in a clear story and shared purpose. And that’s the work we love most—helping communities turn their trails into touchpoints of connection and possibility.