Blue River Rail Trail

Specific Need

We are pleased to once again participate in Pony Up Match Day. 2025 was a big year for our trail, and we are looking forward to even more exciting year in 2026. This is a great opportunity for your donation to go even further, thanks to matching funds provided by Marysville Community Foundation.

The Blue River Rail Trail is entirely funded by private donations and grants. Everything we do is made possible by the generous support of people like you. It is amazing how many people are enjoying the trail. In 2025, we recorded over 20,000 trail users on our trail! What a wonderful asset to our community that improves the health and wellbeing of our residents and brings in visitors from far away.

Looking forward to 2026

· We’re excited to share preliminary plans for the 7th Street Corridor. Thanks to CES Group, a vision is taking shape that will become a vibrant gathering place for our entire community. You can learn more and view the plans at www.blueriverrailtrail.org.

· We are actively pursuing grants from the Kansas Department of Transportation through its Transportation Alternatives (TA) grant and the Kansas Department of Commerce through its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.

· The $1.5 million CDBG grant requires a $300,000 local match. We’ve already begun making strong progress toward this goal, thanks to early support from generous donors. Pony Up Match Day is an important opportunity to continue building that momentum and to help us take a big step toward reaching our match.

· To support this goal, we’ve established a new “Blue River Rail Trail Corridor Fund”. You can donate to this fund directly to support the 7th Street Corridor project.

· Trail surface improvements are also a priority. Our current trail surface needs new material. It takes approximately 23 truckloads of rock to resurface one mile of trail. We plan to resurface one or two miles annually until the full trail is completed.

Profile

Come and enjoy a quiet run, a leisurely walk with a friend or family time as you ride down the trail on your bikes and search for wildlife in this natural playground. The crushed limestone on the trail provides a smooth surface for walking, jogging, biking and cross-country skiing. An abundance of wildlife, plant life, and bird species live along the trail promise to make your visit a truly memorable experience.

The Blue River Rail Trail stretches 13.5 miles from downtown Marysville, Kansas to the Nebraska border. At the state line it connects to the Chief Standing Bear Trail and the extensive Great Plains Trails Network.