Sail250® – Where the ERT and the Intracoastal Waterway Meet

All of Norfolk has spent months, (and in some cases, even years) preparing for historic Sail250 weekend. The ERT team has been hard at work on special programming as the trail is front and center for the festival footprint both downtown and at Front Street. To honor the convergence of Juneteenth with Sail250, our team is highlighting the special significance of Black History along the trail, and sharing the living history of our Truth Be Told on the ERT Black storytellers. We are also highlighting The Rails to Trails Conservancy’s Trail Nation initiative, mapping visitors’ home trail networks and telling our own rail to trail story. We always say we owe our roots to Norfolk Southern as the ERT started with a section of abandoned Norfolk Southern rail right-of-way in what is now the Chelsea area of trail!

We honor our working waterfront and maritime heritage in all we do at the ERT Foundation, but many trail users don’t know that our wayfinding system has its roots in the water. If you’ve ever seen an ERT sign that says 3.5N or 1.5E, and wondered exactly how far you’ve been traveling on the trail and where exactly you’re 3.5 miles or 1.5 miles from, the answer lies in the Elizabeth River. Our Master Planning committee aligned the wayfinding system to mile-marker zero of the intracoastal waterway. This happens to be directly behind Nauticus! From there all of our wayfinding signs either go East towards Norfolk State University, or North towards the Port of Virginia in distance from zero at that spot. This allows the ERT Foundation to grow the trail in either direction without re-signing our wayfinding. The next time you’re navigating the trail, know you really are linked to our waterway!