Editing Trail (section)

==== Towpath ====
[[File:Canal swains lock 20040911 121236 2.jpg|left|thumb|alt= Photograph of a dirt towpath beside a canal with a lock with a house in the background |Swain's Lock on the C & O Canal in [[Maryland]], US]]
A [[towpath]] is a road or path on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The original purpose of a towpath was to allow a horse, or a team of human pullers, to tow a boat, often a [[barge]]. They can be [[Road surface|paved]] or unpaved and are popular with cyclists and walkers; some are suitable for equestrians. Equestrians have legal access to all towpaths in Scotland, and there is a campaign for similar rights in England and Wales.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lobbying |url=https://www.bhs.org.uk/our-work/access/lobbying |url-status=live |access-date=7 February 2021 |website=[[British Horse Society]] |archive-date=20 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020022734/https://www.bhs.org.uk/our-work/access/lobbying }}</ref> In snowy winters in the USA they are popular with cross-country skiers and snowmobile users.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Snowmobiling in the Illinois & Michigan Canal |url=https://traveltips.usatoday.com/snowmobiling-illinois-michigan-canal-100389.html |url-status=live |access-date=7 February 2021 |website=[[USA Today]] |archive-date=23 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823162214/http://traveltips.usatoday.com/snowmobiling-illinois-michigan-canal-100389.html }}</ref>

Most canals were owned by private companies in Britain, and the towpaths were deemed to be private, for the benefit of legitimate users of the canal. The nationalisation of the canal system in 1948 did not result in the towpaths becoming public rights of way, and subsequent legislation, such as the Transport Act of 1968, which defined the government's obligations to the maintenance of the inland waterways for which it was now responsible, did not include any commitment to maintain towpaths for use by anyone.<ref name="ReferenceA">Screen, Andy. "Leisure Facilities on the Towpath". Inland Waterways Association. Retrieved 3 February 2012.</ref> Ten years later [[British Waterways]] started to relax the rule that a permit was required to give access to a towpath, and began to encourage leisure usage by walkers, anglers and in some areas, cyclists.<ref>Cumberlidge, Jane (2009). ''Inland Waterways of Great Britain'' (8th ed.). Imray Laurie Norie and Wilson.[[David & Charles]] {{ISBN|978-1-84623-010-3}} p.37</ref> The [[British Waterways Act 1995]] still did not enshrine any right of public access, although it did encourage recreational access of all kinds to the network,<ref name="ReferenceA" /> although the steady development of the leisure use of the canals and the decline of commercial traffic had resulted in a general acceptance that towpaths are open to everyone, and not just boat users.<ref>Cumberlidge, Jane. p.37.</ref> The concept of free access to towpaths is enshrined in the legislation which transferred responsibility for the English and Welsh canals from British Waterways to the [[Canal & River Trust]] in 2012.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2011/09/12/waterways-charity-2/ |title=Government confirms commitment to create new charity to protect Britain's waterways |publisher=DEFRA |access-date=3 February 2012 |archive-date=12 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312193952/http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2011/09/12/waterways-charity-2/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Not all towpaths are suitable for use by cyclists, but where they are, and the canal is owned by British Waterways, a permit is required. There is no charge for a permit, but it acts as an opportunity to inform cyclists about safe and unsafe areas to cycle. Some areas including London are exempt from this policy, but are covered instead by the London Towpath Code of Conduct and cyclists must have a bell, which they ring twice when approaching pedestrians. Parts of some towpaths have been incorporated into the National Cycle Network, and in most cases this has resulted in the surface being improved.<ref>Cumberlidge, p.11.</ref>

In France it is possible to cycle, [[rollerblade]], and hike along the banks of the [[Canal du Midi]]. A paved stretch of {{cvt|50|km}} from [[Toulouse]] to [[Avignonet-Lauragais]] and another {{cvt|12|km}} between [[Béziers]] and [[Portiragnes]] are particularly suited to cycling and rollerblading. It is possible to cycle or walk the entire [[Canal des Deux Mers]] from [[Sète]] to [[Bordeaux]].<ref>Jean-Yves Grégoire, On foot, on bicycle, the Canal du Midi and the lateral canal (in French). Rando-Éditions, {{ISBN|978-2-84182-314-7}}</ref> Other French canals provide walkers "with many excellent routes, as they are always accompanied by a towpath, which makes a pleasant off-road track, and have the added virtues of flatness, shade and an abundance of villages along the way", though walking a canal can be monotonous, so that "a long trip beside a canal is better done by bicycle".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://walkinginfrance.info/canals/ |title=Canals |last=Keith |website=walkinginfrance.info |access-date=13 June 2015 |archive-date=17 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150617180643/http://walkinginfrance.info/canals |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Walnut Creek Urban Trail Austin Texas.jpg|thumb|alt=Photograph of a concrete urban trail running alongside a road|Part of the Northern Walnut Creek Trail, an urban trail in Austin, Texas, United States]]