The September 11th National Memorial Trail is being established as a National Historic Trail on the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001 and will be a tribute to all those that perished in America's single worse terrorist attack. The establishment of a hiking, biking and driving trail will provide a physical linkage between the three memorials commemorating the tragic events that occurred at the World Trade Center, Pentagon and in Shanksville. The trail will serve as a symbol of the resiliency and character of the communities in which the victims and their families lived and worked.

On September 11, 2001 the United States and world were shocked by an act of terrorism beyond imagination. On that fateful day nineteen al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial aircraft crashing two aircraft in New York City’s World Trade Center Twin Towers; another aircraft plunged into the Pentagon, and the heroic passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93 stopped a fourth airline from striking the nation’s capitol by forcing it to crash land in a filed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Several days later, just blocks from the Pentagon and minutes from our Nations’ Capitol, conservation and recreation leaders from across the country convened to attend the “Mid-Atlantic Governors Conference on Greenways, Blueways and Green Infrastructure” at nearby hotel less than a half-mile from the Pentagon. In the planning stage for nearly a year, it was decided that the conference should go on in the spirit that the terrorists would not disrupt our daily lives. The conference was a rousing success; the only dilemma being that those conference members planning to travel by air from across the country and abroad were prohibited from attending due to the restrictions on air travel.

At the concluding forum one of the conference organizers presented the audience with the vision of establishing a multi-use trail as a perpetual remembrance of those heroes lost on that fateful day. The trail route would start from the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia proceeding to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, then across to New York City and back down to the Pentagon. It would be called the September 11th National Memorial Trail. The conference participants’ response was exciting and the concept moved forward.

Photo Credit: Mt. Vernon Trail, outside Washington, D.C. Arlington County Visitors & Convention Bureau

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