I did take a free trial, years ago. Was not so much impressed at that time.
I’ve never liked “walled garden” members only websites.
Seems to have improved a great deal since then. Here’s the email they sent me when I inquired as to cost:
The US$49.95 charge covers a 1 year subscription to Trails.com. Your subscription includes:
* Unlimited access to more than 44,000 Trail Guides – complete with driving directions, trail directions, maps and more.
* 20% OFF one entire order in our Gear Store (some exclusions apply). This benefit alone could easily pay for your entire Trails.com subscription!
* Unlimited access to every USGS Topographic Map in the USA.
* Trail Finder for fast and easy searching.
* Tools to track your favorite trails, and the ones you’d like to visit.
* The ability to create, download and save, email and print maps and guides.
* Real-time weather and GPS integration (coming soon).
* Trail reviews, photos and many more community features.
* The Trails.com Newsletter – with exclusive offers for Trails.com members.Kristie
Trails.com
Leave a comment if you’ve used that site recently.
besthike.com 
I used it a few years ago and dropped it. This summer I renewed my subscription.
Pros: access to lots of guides. Cons: actual trail info is pretty skimpy (guides are padded with boilerplate and hiking safety notes), topo maps only show trails on original USGS maps, little user feedback for most trails, subscription is expensive. I’ve had good luck with USGS Map Store (free to download and print maps at home) and sites like summitpost.org with user content.
There’s a limited $20/year subscription they’ll offer if you cancel initial trial. If you have the bucks it may be worth it to if you hike areas away from home. Otherwise, skip it.
Thanks for the update on the site, Chas.
I use my trails subscription quite a bit. My hiking blog is guidebook-style, so I like to check multiple references to figure out actual mileage and elevation change. I also like to direct people to guidebooks that include the trails that I hike, and trails allows me to check more books than I own. Printing the guides are sometimes difficult and I haven’t been able to email them at all.
I also use the trail finder feature fairly often, especially when traveling or daydreaming about traveling. It’s nice to be able to find a hike near a job site in a town I’ve never visited and don’t have a book for.
I’ve never found anything worthwhile on their community-type pages.
Thanks pdxdayhiker.
Good comments all.