Page 9 - 2013_winter.indd

Do you have a perfect rail-trail “postcard” for
Greetings from…
?
Send a photo and event
inf
h how we can contact you,
to:
or Rails-to-Trails
Co
ngs from, 2121 Ward
Court, NW, 5th Floor,Washington, DC 20037-1213.
rails
to
trails
winter.13
7
l
be the air inside the giant balloons. A hot air
balloon race and moon glow are highlights
of an annual tradition dating back to the late
1800
s. The “Coolest Celebration on Earth,”
taking place from January 24 to February 3,
will also feature snow sculpting, ice carving
and a treasure hunt. Other events, such as
a parade and coronation, will involve the
Royal Family” and their battles with the
Fire King and his Vulcan Krewe (an elabo-
rate legend probably concocted during an
endless snowbound Minnesota night). Just
north of Rice Park, the carnival’s epicenter,
lies an 18-mile segment of the Willard Munger
State Trail (also known as the Gateway State Trail), which will
take you from the busy St. Paul downtown into open prairie
and woodlands.
Length & surface:
18.3
miles; asphalt and crushed stone
End points:
Cayuga Park at L’Orient Street (St. Paul) to Pine Point Regional Park
(
near Stillwater)
Website:
February means warm summer weather in New Zealand—in
other words, the perfect time to go on a trail holiday. Break
away from the sweaters and wooly coats on the Otago Central
Rail Trail, which offers spectacular mountain and river scenery
as well as unique sites such as abandoned gold mines. If you’re
going February 23 to 25, save room in your pack for a pin-
striped suit and fedora, or flapper dress and feather boa; you’ll
-
sion, but the town’s buildings are in on the act, too; most are
preserved in their original art deco style dating back to their
1930
s construction. Going grit to glam will be well worth the
effort, with a weekend of live jazz, street dancing, vintage car
peeping, carnival-style markets, and delectable food and wine.
Length & surface:
93
miles (150 km); gravel
End points:
Clyde to
Middlemarch (in the Otago region of New Zealand’s South Island)
Website:
TO
BACKGROUND: LEIGH PRATHER/VEER