The Northeast Texas Trail (NETT) is an ambitious project that seeks to link 19 towns and 7 counties across Texas with one epic 130-mile trail. Operating off of the infrastructure of two former rail lines, the Northeast Texas Trail will span from Farmersville, Texas to New Boston in West Texarkana as the longest hike, bike, and equestrian trail in Texas and fourth longest in the United States.
History of the Northeast Texas Trail
After Union Pacific and Chaparral railroad ceased operations in the late ’90s, three private agencies acquired the railroad corridors: from New Boston to Clarksville (Rails to Trails Conservancy), Clarksville to Paris (Greater Paris Development Foundation), and from Paris to Farmersville (Chaparral Rails to Trails Inc.). This was made possible due to the National Trail Acts federal law (1983) and Rail Banking process.
In 2007, the RTC president realized the possibility of creating a continuous 130-mile trail across Texas. A few years later, the establishment of the USDOT Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program laid the groundwork for the coalition of RTC, GPDF, and Chaparral, and thus 19 towns and 7 counties. In 2012, the Northeast Texas Trail (NETT) Coalition was officially formed as a non-profit in pursuit of developing the NETT.
Northeast Texas Trail Today
Presently, the NETT coalition is in the process of development of the trail and “re-cycling” the bank corridor into a shared-use trail system across Texas. The trail is broken down into eight local rail bank entities:
- City of Farmersville (Farmersville to Merit)
- Chaparral Rails-to-Trails Inc. (Merit to Paris)
- Greater Paris Development Foundation (Paris to Clarksville)
- City of Clarksville (Clarksville to Annona)
- City of Annona (Annona to Avery)
- City of Avery (Avery to Bowie County)
- Bowie County (Bowie County to New Boston)
- New Boston (New Boston)
Presently, the NETT coalition is aiming to have the entire 130-mile trail cleared and graded by 2027, with the goal of complete surfacing and bridge refurbishment by 2029.
Accessing the NETT from Dallas
Though areas of the trail haven’t been developed or otherwise remain in their natural state, large parts of the trail are very much accessible. As such, dedicated travelers can hike, bike, and or ride a horse from DFW to New Boston – just know that the trail will contain a number of rough passages and some detours are required…