Before it was a trail, it was the path of the Sacramento Northern Railway.
For decades, electric trains rumbled through Lafayette along the railroad corridor that first reached town in 1913. Passenger service ended in 1941, and the last freight trains ran in 1957. For years afterward, the old railroad right-of-way sat quietly, waiting for a new purpose.
Then two Lafayette women—Avon Wilson and Lynn Hiden, affectionately known as the “Bike Ladies”—saw something others had overlooked. They envisioned a safe place where children could ride their bicycles away from busy streets.
That simple idea grew into something much bigger. With the help of Don Goode, Jerry Kent, local leaders, and others, the abandoned railroad corridor was transformed into the Lafayette-Moraga Regional Trail-one of the nation’s early Rails-to-Trails projects.
Today, thousands of people walk, run, bicycle and ride horseback along the same route where trains once carried passengers and freight through Lafayette.
Come celebrate 50 Years Along the Lafayette-Moraga Regional Trail and learn more about the remarkable story behind this much-loved Lafayette landmark.
Saturday, October 10 | 9-11 a.m.
Lafayette Community Center, Jennifer Russell Building
500 St. Mary’s Road, Lafayette
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