Good Journey is a UK-based nonprofit that promotes car-free travel, with options for train, bus, cycling, and walking. They partner with recreation destinations to offer discounts or other incentives for car-free visitors.

OffMetro “reports on the best day trips and weekend getaways that are easily accessible via alternative modes of transportation, be it by bike, bus, subway, or boat.” It includes (non-comprehensive) content for Canada, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Washington, D.C., and publishes a California edition. It also published this guide to enjoying some National Parks without a car

A fantastic map and resource that is probably the most comprehensive collection of transit-accessible recreation systems for North America, from a survey done as part of a research collaboration of the University of Utah and the University of British Columbia under the auspices of UBC’s Urban Nature Design Research Lab.

Denali has a seeming embarrassment of bus options, from spartan to lux. To reach Denali via transit take Amtrak Cascades to Bellingham (WA), walk about 5 minutes over to the ferry terminal and hop on the Alaska Marine Highway (a public ferry), which also has accommodation options ranging from the rugged to the comfy. Get off in Whittier. From there, it’s a short walk to Alaska Railroad’s Denali Star scenic railroad, which makes a stop at the park.

A private seasonal shuttle serving popular (I am told) Flattop Mountain daily (or near-daily) late May through late August. Pricing varies based on ridership. A bike rental option add-on is available for “above average” mountain bikers.

The seasonal On-It shuttle runs between Banff National Park and Canmore spring and summer on Fridays, weekends, and holiday Mondays. As of May 2025 the site suggests fall service is in the works.

You can take Amtrak’s Southwest Chief to Flagstaff and catch their bus service to the Grand Canyon. Once at the park, use its shuttle system to get around. Feeling fancy? Take the Grand Canyon Railway from Williams to the park.

The Sedona Shuttle operates Thursday-Sunday year-round. This AZ Central article highlights just a few of the trails the shuttle serves.

A wide-ranging if somewhat dated and very much ahead-of-its-time (published in 1999!) guide to car-free recreation in Southwestern B.C. from Brian Grover, once a book but now all on the web, B.C. Car Free: Exploring SW British Columbia Without a Car.

After disappearing for a bit in early 2025, this simple PDF (30KB) listing all the regional parks that can be reached via transit, with distance between bus and trailhead and transfer details is back. Supplement with this Capitol Regional Parks & Trails brochure (PDF, 73MB), which includes a map that actually lists key transit hubs.

This lovely and practical map was produced more than a decade ago. (Sadly, you can no longer purchase a paper version of the map..) Evan of Hiking by Transit (below) reports that service cuts have happened since 2009. Still, even now it should be a helpful resource. It includes some short narratives about trips to featured trails.

In April 2023, Evan Tschuy, friend of Transit Trekker, launched the Hiking by Transit site, picking up where the Bay Nature map (above) left off, aiming to be a comprehensive resource for Bay Area transit hiking.

A nicely laid out overview of Marin County parks accessible via transit, listing routes and nearest stops.

Urban hiking is indisputably transit-trek friendly. The SF Crosstown Trail site includes a helpful list of connecting trails.

Discovering L.A. Transit to Trails is what prompted me to finally create this resource page. I haven’t dug in to it, but I like what I’ve seen so far. Absolutely be sure to check out the related organization, Nature for All.

Speaking of Nature for All, keep on eye on their Los Angeles-San Gabriel Mountains Urban Shuttle System effort, which sounds like it aims to launch prior to 2028 Olympics. They recently added a set of guides for Nature-Based Trips from Union Station

A March 2023 article in the San Diego Union Tribune titled “11 hiking trails near public transit stops across San Diego County.” It’s a short list, but this is my hometown, so onto this page it goes. You may be able to bypass the paywall via your public library’s digital reference tools, or, if you are affiliated with a university, check out that library’s digital resources for access.

Eastern Sierra Transit has produced an excellent page to help hikers use transit in the region. Both the Pacific Crest Trail and the John Muir Trail can be accessed. The guide includes information about connecting to other transit systems for more outdoor adventures.

Tahoe Truckee Area Regional Transit (TART) set up its system map to make it easy to find transit access to trailheads. It also includes a filter for showing bike trails, something I’d love to see on more of these maps.

The Sequoia Shuttle runs seasonally, usually beginning July 1, running through early September, and is a partnership between the city of Visalia and the National Park Service. Once you’re in Sequoia National Park, there are four internal shuttles you can use to get around.

Boulder offers several seasonal shuttles to popular hiking destinations, beginning in late May and running through early September. The shuttles are free. Operated by Boulder County Transit.

Colorado Public Radio News’ Nathanial Minor compiled this list of transit-accessible outdoor adventures on the Front Range.

From late May through early October, hike, backpack, fish and more in the San Juan National Forest and the Weminuche Wilderness via a historic narrow gauge railroad service. Access Durango via the Bustang’s Durango route — the bus stops a few blocks from the rail terminal. Be sure to read the fine print about flagging the train down for some return trips!

Amtrak’s seasonal service from Denver to Winter Park for the ski crowd, with recently expanded service, including to Fraser, CO.

This post from Greater Greater Washington links to D.C.-region hiking clubs that charter buses on weekends for day trips. An earlier post on other transit-accessible hikes is at this link.

This 2025 post from Greater Greater Washington provides great detail for a handful of car-free trips you can embark on from D.C.

An entire guide book, now in its second edition, devoted to transit hikes you can do in the Chicago region, Chicago Transit Hikes. It’s an excellent value, so add it to your outdoors or transit library. Lindsay Welbers, the author and friend of Transit Trekker, also blogs about her trips.

The folks at the Island Explorer not only outline the many options for getting to the area car-free, they operate a free, seasonal shuttle that serves the lion’s share of Acadia National Park during the summer. There is also fall service, so if you’re more of an overcast outings person, you have options! Unclear if the shuttle service in the park runs in the winter, but most of the car-free options for getting there do run year-round.

Hike 27 miles in Boston on the Walking City Trail. In my experience, urban hiking is underrated. And it’s great way to demonstrate how easy it can be for transit to take you to greenspace.

Exactly what it sounds like – the MBTA’s guide to using the T for outdoor fun times.

Alger Transit Authority operates a seasonal backpacker shuttle along the Lakeshore Trail in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Runs May-Oct. (seems to depends on snowfall). You can reserve drop off & pickups at various trailheads.

You can travel to Glacier National Park via Amtrak, take a private shuttle from the West Glacier Amtrak station to the park, and then connect to the park shuttle system July 1 through Labor Day, with some limited shuttle service sometimes running beyond Labor Day. There’s also a hiker biker shuttle that runs from mid-May until the Going to the Sun road opens. The Apgar shuttle stop is close enough to West Glacier that you could conceivably hike over if the private shuttle is full — there’s a sidewalk along the main road and over the river, then you can cut over onto a trail to catch the free park shuttle at Apgar Visitor Center.

Missoula’s fare-free transit service, The Mountain Line, produces this helpful guide to nearby destinations accessible via transit, highlighting biking and hiking trails first.

The Big Mountain Commercial Association operates the free Shuttle Network of Whitefish or SNOW bus during peak winter AND summer season, serving area resorts seven days a week. The bus stops at the Whitefish Amtrak station. You can use Flathead County’s advance-reservation public transit service, the Mountain Climber, weekdays for $1 for each ride, to reach Whitefish Lake State Park and get very close to a few trailheads in the area. The Mountain Climber also provides service to and around Kalispell and Columbia Falls.

Bicyclists: The Mountain Climber buses have bike racks. I’ve got an inquiry in to the SNOW bus operator to confirm what the bike portage situation is on their shuttles, and will update when I hear back. That was quick: YES, the SNOW bus has a bike trailer and bicycles are welcome.

The Nature Conservancy has supported monthly Transit to Trails service. In 2022 and 2023, two seasonal express shuttles ran on limited dates to outdoor destinations around Manchester. Check back to see about 2024.

A collaboration between Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy (MHLC) and the Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) these free, summer-season Saturday routes serve popular recreation spots in the Albany and Schenectady areas.

Cap’n Transit has been keeping a spreadsheet of transit-accessible trailheads with the essential info you need for the New Jersey and New York City regions. Related: This June 2024 blog post from a guest author at the Cap’n’s blog outlines possibilities for combining jitney services with transit to access recreation.

MTA Away is the more robust cousin of the NJ Transit to Trails page, featuring car-free trips all over the region, with a filter to find outdoors trips.

“Your guide to transit-powered outdoor adventure in Tompkins County.”

The New York – New Jersey Trail Conference has tips for transit hiking. The site previously included links to a searchable (!) database to find transit-accessible trails in the region, but it appears to be taken down as of early 2025.

A newish (as of early 2023) Transit to Trails page from NJ Transit.

I’m pretty impressed by Ridj-it, a much-more-than-a-car-pooling-platform built by Rik Ganguly and Ari Iaccarino and specifically designed for outdoor recreation. Right now the platform is active for New England and NY, but they are looking to expand, according to the website.

Suffolk County in Long Island launched a Transit to Trails program in 2023 that provides good maps and detailed directions for getting to the county’s many parks and trails via the Long Island Rail Road.

Launched in early 2024, this site allows users to filter all kinds of recreation destinations by various features, including whether they are close to public transit.

This DIY effort from Portland, OR-based trekker Scott Nechemias uses CalTopo mapping to highlight transit-accessible hikes and likewise all over Oregon. The map is here. Nechemias is more on the high adventure side of the outdoor recreation spectrum, so keep that in mind when consulting this map, and be sure to check for updated schedules, as always. Nechemias also blogs about his outings at Along the Waypoints.

Bike Portland’s post “Get around Oregon without a car with this handy transit guide” shares info from TriMet. Somewhat repackages TriMet’s guide.

Expanded from four days a week to seven in 2025, more enhancements are coming to the seasonal recreation route in 2026, I am told. Each bus has a bike trailer with capacity for 20 bikes and all vehicles are ADA-accessible. They even offer a season pass. And Cascades East operates other seasonal recreational routes.

A handy and thoughtful guide to enjoying both sides of the Columbia River Gorge car-free.

The club maintains transit information for winter sports enthusiasts.

Travel Oregon includes a section on car-free trip ideas on its site. This link includes links to region-specific posts highlighting car-free trip options.

TriMet’s blog post on traveling around Oregon via transit is here.

Go Philly Go is a trip planning tool designed to help people “to go anywhere within the greater Philadelphia area without the use of a car.” It includes an option to filter by “Nature” destinations. What I especially love about it is its integration of cycling and walking options into trips. Multi-modal FTW. You can also filter for events!

LCTA runs a seasonal bus from Wilkes-Barre to Frances Slocum State Park – route 24. They also produced this Routes to Trails map that highlights all the trails and other recreation hot spots you can reach using LCTA.

Like Go Philly Go, Philly Parks & Rec’s No Park Too Far focuses mostly on trails and parks that can be reached in the urban footprint.

The Wasatch Backcountry Alliance runs a Backcountry Shuttle to Little Cottonwood Canyon and Big Cottonwood Canyon on Saturdays during the winter season. This was paused for a while in 2024 but looks like they were able to bring it back in 2025.

Green Mountain Transit route 108 is a seasonal service that runs from late November to late April, running between Stowe Village and a nearby mountain/ski resort. It’s fare-free, too. A handy map can be found here.

King County Metro’s Community Van program “provides a van for pre-scheduled trips—as a driver or as a passenger. Schedule your ride in advance or volunteer to drive your neighbors or your own family. Use Community Van to run errands, get to appointments, or attend activities and outings!” While this resource does require getting qualified as an approved driver, if you or someone in your network can do that, Community Van can be a solid option for accessing some recreation in some of the less transit-rich regions of the county.

King County Parks offers this Trailfinder tool (recently rebranded as the IMO more clunky “Backyard Funfinder”) that lets you add layers for transit lines and bus stops to quickly find which routes go near trails all over the county.

Seattle Transit Hikers is a public meetup group that uses transit to hike mostly urban trails in the King County area, with occasional trips beyond.

Trailhead Direct is King County’s much-lauded seasonal weekend transit service to a bunch of hiking options, concentrated near the Issaquah Alps and some trailheads near the closer-in portions of the Snoqualmie corridor.

Pierce Transit has a helpful map to find mostly urban trails in its Tacoma and Pierce County service area.

Pierce Trips (now Ride Together Pierce) created a table of car-free recreation destinations in Pierce County that as of April 2024 has disappeared. I found it really helpful and if I can find it living elsewhere I will update the link.

This is a private shuttle service operated out of Enumclaw to Mt. Rainier and the Gifford Pinchot National Forest areas. For visitors who would otherwise have to rent a car to reach these destinations, or for locals getting a group together, the shuttle is likely a bargain in comparison. Or grab five friends locally and split the tab. Read about the shuttle operator here. Looks like he added a discount if you take transit to Enumclaw to get the shuttle. Note that King County Metro route does not currently run on Sundays (as of April 2025).