The planners who manage the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail, a 26-mile recreation path between St. Albans City and Richford, want to connect hikers, cyclists and snowmobilers with businesses in the communities the trail passes through.
That’s the idea behind Trail-Friendly Business, said Greta Brunswick, a senior planner at the Northwest Regional Planning Commission. Businesses that sign up for the free program will be listed in directories on the trail and on an interactive trail map online.
In exchange, trail managers recommend that these businesses provide some kind of service for trail users such as restrooms, water bottle refills or cellphone charges.
Lodging and camping properties will be asked to provide secure parking for bicycles, and camping sites will specifically be asked to offer a dedicated camping area for people who arrive by bike without a reservation.
Brunswick called the program a win-win for trail users and local businesses.
“There’s a reason to think about how to service those types of recreational tourists,” she said of businesses near the trail, “and the simple, really easy steps that either they may already be doing — or could do — at very limited cost.”
The Northwest Regional Planning Commission is going door-to-door in local communities this month to recruit for the program, Brunswick said. Businesses that join will be identified with a window decal.
The Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail draws about 80,000 annual visits, according to a 2020 study, and trail users spend close to $2 million a year total at local businesses.
Only about 20% of trail users come from outside Franklin County, though they make up more than two-thirds of total spending by trail users. Just 5% of users stay overnight in the surrounding communities, a figure local planners want to increase.
Planners also are installing new informational kiosks, bike repair stations and wayfinding signs along the trail, Brunswick said. There are now six kiosks: one in St. Albans City, three in Sheldon, one in Enosburg Falls and one in Richford.
Funding for the new rail trail infrastructure comes from a $64,000 Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative grant.
Similar grants have funded a bike facility and dock in Brighton, trail improvements in Randolph and web design to help Poultney advertise Slate Valley Trails.
Brunswick said that, while the rail trail is primarily used by locals, outdoor recreation facilities like it are key to the region’s tourism economy. It’s likely to get more use, she said, when the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail extension through Franklin County is completed. The Lamoille rail trail is expected to run for 93 miles between St. Johnsbury and Swanton.
The two trail routes meet at Sheldon Junction.
“It’s important,” Brunswick said, “to capitalize on that type of tourism and the increased economic impact that can have for local businesses.”
