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Built on a former section of the Chicago Great Western Railroad (built in 1893), the Great Western Trail spans 19 miles between Des Moines and Martensdale.
About the Route
The trail's northern end is at Carney Park in Water Works Park, where the trail connects to the Bill Riley Trail and the Meredith Trail. Curving southwest, the trail parallels George Flagg Pkwy to the north-most trailhead across from the Izaak Walton League venue space (4343 George Flagg Pkwy, Des Moines). The trailhead has trail signage, a paved parking lot, and restrooms.
There are several nearby bars and restaurants nearby that are popular with cyclists and other trail users. From the trailhead, follow a paved spur north to connect to Water Works Park, which has more parking, restrooms, and drinking fountains.
Paralleling SW 46th St, the trail continues south and passes Des Moines International Airport. Curving southwest, the trail leaves the outskirts of Des Moines. The trail passes under State Route 28, and then the route cuts through the Willow Creek Golf Course before passing under SR 5.
A short time later, the trail reaches Orilla, after which the trail empties into rural territory with cornfields and woods; here the ride is quiet and peaceful.
About 3 miles southwest of Orilla, the trail passes through the tiny town of Cumming, where there are restrooms and parking available, as well as a bar and a distillery.
The route then becomes completely rural, with open fields quickly transitioning to shady woodlands that feel extremely remote—particularly during the work week. Highlights along this stretch include a historic railcar and panoramic views of the North River. The trail's southern end is on Inwood St/Iowa Ave in Martensdale, where there is a large trailhead with parking and restrooms.
Connections
At its northern end, the Great Western Trail connects to the Bill Riley Trail and the Meredith Trail.
The Great Western Trail runs between Carney Park (2780 SW 30th St, Des Moines) and Inwood St/Iowa Ave (Martensdale).
Parking is available at several points along the route, including:
Visit the TrailLink map for all options and detailed directions.
Mostly asphalt that could use some work. Looks like they will be resurfacing the section south of Cumming fall of 2023. The Chicken and the Iowa Distillery are definitely worth the ride.
Rode the entire trail today. The ride is pretty however very hard to enjoy due to poor condition of the trail. The seams are very rough and major patch work though out the trail. First part of the trail from Water Works Park to Cummings, IA is not as bad but south of Cummings is very very bumpy. I hope there are some resurfacing upgrades scheduled soon. I would not ride it again. The Iowa Distillery in Cummings was a great stop.
Lately, it is clear that, though, visitors enjoy these trails own by the city of Polk County and Water Works, there is a glim of sadness of cruelty going on throughout these trails. As The Polk County City Council and parks administrators have up to "pimp" the natural beauty of their wilderness to be destroyed by the hunting, bicycle, land-escaping and real state developmental business and brewing business.
The wild animals, forestry, waters, flora are being destroyed, in order to satisfy, not only the UNSATISFYING GREED OF THESE BUSINESS BUT THE POLOK COUNTY administrators in charge of it.
More and more trees are being cut down regardless if these are not ash trees, old. The fauna throughout these trails gets constantly injured and killed by visitors riding motorized vehicles and high speeding cyclist, drunk visitors shatter their beer bottles throughout the homes of these animals, there is trash allover, even next to trash containers! The are hardly any signs asking visitors to through their trash away, and hardly any available trash and recycle containers!!! These trails are NOT WILDERNESS FRIENDLY are poor managed by not protecting the wilderness from the increased amount of visitors that show not responsibility for their actions throughout these trails. There are not signs to caution visitors to keep safe wildlife and they need to post signs to help injured animals. Seeing animals being hunted by bow-arrow is the cruelest scene I have ever experienced, and my visits to these trails have open my awareness of the dark side of their management.
Visitors need to be conscious that there are living beings throughout these trails and that they need to be considerate of the wildlife safety in them. There is not need for land escaping, as their natural beauty is best God
If you have a road bike or bad shocks this will not be as enjoyable as other trails. The trail needs some work done. It’s pretty bumpy in spots. However it is a beautiful ride with some cute bars along the way!
We started at the south trailhead in Martinsville. NOT suitable for skating and probably not nice on a bike!!!
We came from the east and west side of Iowa to ride. We started at Captain Roy's and heading south to Cumming. Beautiful scenery and lots of places to stop and have refreshments/food. The bridges in Des Moines are beautiful and the path is well maintained.
We need budget dollars for biking trail maintenance, however, and this trail is due in more than a few spots. For the cost of one F-16, we could repave all of the trails in Iowa! Nice to get away from the constant drone of bad news on the telly, and to enjoy nature. These 32 miles were about 1/2 of what I rode today and this was definitely a good leg of the journey!
Great trail. Super wet from the melt. Was loking forward to lunch in Matinsdale but the Roadside is CLOSED for good.
We started a one day ride in 2014 from Kansas City to Des Moines. Riding the last 16 miles on the Great Western Trail was a nice break from the roads. It's scenic and in good enough condition to ride our road bikes on. We'll be back at it again this Saturday, 07/18.
This trail is beautiful! The pictures attached to it don't do it justice. It is much harder to go south than it is to go north, plus it is wonderful to end at Grey's lake after going through Water Works Park. I definitely recommend it!
We started in Des Moines and made stops in Cumming at the Tap and ended up with a great meal in Martensdale at the Roadside Inn. You have to travel east thru the town of Martensdale at the bottom of the hill. Nice trail with lots of wildlife and the leaves were turning. Not much traffic and those we met along the way could not have been nicer.
When I visit my in-laws in Iowa, I typically have to run the highways with no shoulder, run the country roads and risk being chased by loose dogs, or scrap my training runs all together for the weekend. My husband did a search and found this awesome trail. I started my run in Martensdale (only a 13 mile drive for me). The trail head there has decent bathroom facilities and water. The stretch I ran, 6.5 out and back, was mostly flat with only a few gradual, hardly noticeable inclines and a couple of small hills. If you are looking to do an interval or tempo run, this trail will work just fine. The trail was clear, i.e., no leaves or brush, and was nicely mowed on each side. It was a Friday, so I had it all to myself. The following day, my husband and I went for a 10 mile run on it late in the afternoon. Being a hunter, my husband really enjoyed seeing the deer. There was a little more use of the trail on this day.
Overall, this is a super nice trail. I'm thrilled that we found it and will definitely continue to use when we are back to visit. In fact, I hope to be able to run it all the way to Des Moines maybe next spring or summer.
Just rode this 6/28 for the first time. Very enjoyable and the road bed was in good condition the entire length. The Tap in Cumming is not visible from the trail, just turn off the trail where you see the Welcome to Cumming sign, go east a few yards and you will see it on the main street on the west side. The trailhead at Martensdale has some limited parking and restroom facilities.
This is a great trail to ride. Takes you through Water Works Park and Greenwood Park. A great place to stop to eat is Bambino's in Cummings if you are there in the evening. Also Orlando's in Des Moines is another great place to get a bite to eat, the trail runs right behind it and there are usually bikes parked out back.
The flooding damage was repaired in late 2008, and the trail was fully functional all 2009. There are a few parts of the trail where the blacktop is split and buckled and at the end of the 2009 season, many of those sections have been repaired. The trail is actually 16.7 miles long.
The Great Western Trail runs some from Des Moines. It is relatively flat but have a few rolling hills.
About 1/2 way on the trail is a little town, Cumming, when you get grab a beer at the Cumming Tap, right next to the trail.
The trail was severely damaged during the floods of 2008. About one mile south of the northern start is a section that is being repaired. at about mile 12 there are currently markers to keep riders away from the washed out section. last i rode, the last three miles were totally closed.
"I live only a few miles from this trail, so I tend to ride it often. It's fairly flat, but there are a couple of hills and gradual grades. It's very scenic and the ride through the tunnels as you near Des Moines is a blast. I often ride midday in the middle of the week and I encounter only a handful of other riders."
"This is a trail in transition. It used to be chipped limestone, but in the summer of 2000 it was paved. As such, there is alot more traffic. But, it's still a good trail.
In the winter/spring of 2000/2001, a 100 yard section of the trail between Des Moines and Cumming will be torn up as the DOT builds a four-lane interstae through the area. Plans are for a tunnel to go beneath the road. Suffice it to say, a very nice area of the trail will be forever gone.
Anyway, it's a short jaunt to the Cumming Tap (a big bicyclist hangout) as well as the town of Martensdale. "
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