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Print Friendly MapThe Rock Island Greenway, named after the now-defunct rail line that Johnny Cash once sang about, is the conversion of a former railroad right-of-way into a shared-use path and linear park that connects residential areas, Ruston's downtown commercial core, Louisiana Tech University, and wooded natural settings. The first mile of the greenway was constructed in late 2016 with a crushed-stone surface, providing a nice starting block for a city-wide trail system that will greatly improve the quality of life for the community.
Additional paved segments of trail were completed in 2019 and 2020, extending the initial pathway into R.L. Cook Park and creating a separate southern segment, running from W California Avenue to Tennessee Avenue on a pleasant corridor near Shepherd Creek on the city's outskirts.
For the northern segment of the trail, park in the gravel lot near the W. Kentucky Ave. & Chautauqua Rd. intersection, or at R.L. Cook Park at 2800 Kavanaugh Road.
Nice shaded trail. Some of it is paved and some is crushed stone. Seems to be very well maintained. It’s not a long trail but it is conveniently located near I-20 and Ruston has a cute little downtown area with several restaurants. Lots of people were walking the paved section of the trail near the Cook Park area, once I crossed the road and was on the crushed stone section I had the trail to myself. My iPhone died before I could get pics of the downtown area and the rest of the trail. Lots of free parking at the northern end of the trail @ Cook Park.
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