Explore the best rated trails in Boone, IA. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Galloping Goose Trail (IA) and Brewer Creek Trail. With more than 71 trails covering 503 miles you’re bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
_135458_st.jpg)
South Skunk River is a tributary of the Mississippi River. In Ames, the Skunk River Trail brings residents closer to river and to nature. The shared use path sits on the shady west bank of South Skunk...
The Summerset Trail links the two central Iowa communities of Indianola and Carlisle, both of which have embraced the trail, including providing helpful signs at each end with clear directions for...
The Mills Civic Parkway Trail follows the route of its namesake roadway through suburban West Des Moines, helping to connect residents to popular destinations like local parks, schools, numerous shops...
The Heart of the Warrior Trail runs east-west through Waukee, a small city in the Greater Des Moines area. On its east end, the trail begins in Lions Park. Here, it connects to the popular Clive...
The Bob Layton Trail, dedicated in 2014 and named in honor of the city of Urbandale's former city manager, offers a little over a mile of paved trail through the city's Walnut Creek Regional Park. A...
There are few better ways to experience Boone River without actually getting your feet wet than the Boone River Recreational Trail. The trail weaves along the scenic river, taking you from one end of...
The Westridge Greenway Trail spans just shy of a mile, running along a beautiful shaded corridor in the heart of suburban West Des Moines. The flat trail is a mixture of concrete and asphalt paths,...
The Johnston Interurban Trail, built on a corridor used by Iowa's Inter-Urban Railway from 1906 until 1948, provides an important connection for the area's top-notch trail system, which enables trail...
_0_sc.jpg)
The Hiawatha Trail provides a convenient way to cross Perry's northeastern neighborhoods and provides a connection to Raccoon River Valley Trail, a scenic 89-mile rail-trail. The east end of the...
A short, paved path that runs through open fields and clusters of trees alongside Beaver Creek, local residents use the Augustine Trail both as a convenient means of recreation and dog-walking, as...
Constructed in a lovely corridor that runs in between suburban neighborhoods in West Des Moines, the Ashawa Greenway Trail offers a short but pleasant paved path that serves both as a means of...
The Waveland Trail runs through the historic neighborhoods of Waveland Park, Waveland Woods and Waterbury in western Des Moines. Along the way, the trail passes a community center, library, golf...
Stange Road trail connects residents of the Somerset neighborhood in north Ames, to the Iowa State University campus that lies directly south of it. The shared use path sits on the west side of Stange...
Running through suburban neighborhoods on the western edge of Johnston, IA, the Green Meadows North Trail offers a pleasant dose of nature and serves as a great recreational amenity for nearby...
The Lions Park Trail provides a charming path alongside a little creek in the suburb of Grimes, IA, far to the northwest on the outskirts of the Des Moines area. This short trail provides a perfect...
The Green Meadows West Trail is a short multi-use path that provides an off-road connection for the Green Meadows neighborhood to the rest of the Johnston area's network of trails, enabling residents...
The Kruidenier Trail cuts through beautifully landscaped areas around Gray’s Lake and leads you into downtown Des Moines. The park offers a permanent on-site bike rental facility, restrooms, and a...
As it runs directly through the heart of Marshalltown in central Iowa, access to the Linn Creek Recreational Trail is easy for many of the city's residents. They will want to take advantage of it,...
The Pine Lake Trail runs through a heavily wooded state park of the same name, which is especially known for its 250-year-old white pine trees. The trail begins at Deer Park, a half mile east of...
A newly constructed six-lane highway built to accommodate the rapidly expanding suburb of Waukee, the Grand Prairie Parkway was designed to serve a variety of needs, and the accompanying Grand Prairie...
Stange Road trail connects residents of the Somerset neighborhood in north Ames, to the Iowa State University campus that lies directly south of it. The shared use path sits on the west side of Stange...
The Bill Riley Trail delivers a short but immersive trail experience in a tranquil natural setting. The trail begins at the southern end of the Walnut Creek Trail, and follows the creek into Ashworth...
The West Des Moines Levee Trail was named in 2015 as one of the Top 10 most frequented trails in the Des Moines trail network. The trail is the connector between two other popular trails, Jordan Creek...
The Summerset Trail links the two central Iowa communities of Indianola and Carlisle, both of which have embraced the trail, including providing helpful signs at each end with clear directions for...
The Bob Layton Trail, dedicated in 2014 and named in honor of the city of Urbandale's former city manager, offers a little over a mile of paved trail through the city's Walnut Creek Regional Park. A...
A short, paved path that runs through open fields and clusters of trees alongside Beaver Creek, local residents use the Augustine Trail both as a convenient means of recreation and dog-walking, as...
_0_sc.jpg)
Connecting neighborhoods to parks and trails in the center of Waukee, a small but fast-growing suburb west of Des Moines, the Sugar Creek Trail helps provide an easy way to bike or walk around the...
The Green Meadows West Trail is a short multi-use path that provides an off-road connection for the Green Meadows neighborhood to the rest of the Johnston area's network of trails, enabling residents...
Providing a pleasant off-road route between the two Des Moines suburbs of Urbandale and Johnston, the Johnston to Urbandale Trail also serves as one of the main points of connection from Urbandale's...
Beginning at the end of the Bob Layton Trail in Urbandale, the Walnut Trace Park Trail allows walkers, cyclists, and others to continue exploring the peaceful meadows alongside Walnut Creek for over...
The Russell White Nature Trail runs for nearly 4 miles through a landscape of forest, pasture and prairie and links the tiny community of Lanesboro with open space to the southwest of the town. The...
The Fort Dodge Nature Trail begins at the city's Snell-Crawford Park and runs northeast for nearly 3 miles. The trail travels adjacent to overhead power lines and crosses a couple of bridges over...
Covering the majority of the northern side of the small suburban community of Grimes, IA, the Beaverbrooke Park Trail offers a lovely paved route along the tree-lined path of an irrigation ditch....
The Ewing Park Trail is a paved path, perfect for a short bike ride or jog, located in the city of Des Moines' Ewing Park. One of the city's largest public parks, the park is home to a popular lilac...
To the residents of Lastrobe, the Lincoln Avenue Rails to Trails Greenway is more than a simple off-road path: it also a social asset, a place where community members of all ages and walks of life can...
_157342_sc.jpg)
Built on a former section of the Chicago Great Western Railroad (built in 1893), the Great Western Trail spans 16.5 miles from just outside of urban Des Moines southward to Martensdale. Begin your...
Polk County's Trestle to Trestle Trail stretches from Des Moines to Johnston, one of its northern suburbs. The 3.7 mile asphalt trail, which runs near both heavily-wooded forest and the Des Moines...
The paved Chichaqua Valley Trail crosses 27 miles of central Iowa farmland between the northeastern Des Moines suburbs and the rural community of Baxter. The trail’s name, pronounced chee-chak-wah, is...
The Kruidenier Trail cuts through beautifully landscaped areas around Gray’s Lake and leads you into downtown Des Moines. The park offers a permanent on-site bike rental facility, restrooms, and a...
Following a former railroad corridor, the Iowa River Trail will one day span 34 miles from Marshalltown in Marshall County to Steamboat Rock in Hardin County. Currently, two short segments are open at...
The Kruidenier Trail cuts through beautifully landscaped areas around Gray’s Lake and leads you into downtown Des Moines. The park offers a permanent on-site bike rental facility, restrooms, and a...
Helping to connect three of the city of West Des Moines' public parks - and allowing residents to access the parks safely via bike or on foot - the Knolls Greenway Trail provides a nice recreational...
A short, paved path that runs through open fields and clusters of trees alongside Beaver Creek, local residents use the Augustine Trail both as a convenient means of recreation and dog-walking, as...
Covering the majority of the northern side of the small suburban community of Grimes, IA, the Beaverbrooke Park Trail offers a lovely paved route along the tree-lined path of an irrigation ditch....
As it runs directly through the heart of Marshalltown in central Iowa, access to the Linn Creek Recreational Trail is easy for many of the city's residents. They will want to take advantage of it,...
Running through suburban neighborhoods on the western edge of Johnston, IA, the Green Meadows North Trail offers a pleasant dose of nature and serves as a great recreational amenity for nearby...
Located just over thirty miles east of Des Moines, the small city of Newton boasts a charming midwestern feel - and complementing the city's charm is the lovely Newton Hike and Bike Trail, which...
The Heart of the Warrior Trail runs east-west through Waukee, a small city in the Greater Des Moines area. On its east end, the trail begins in Lions Park. Here, it connects to the popular Clive...
The Long Meadow Trail is a quaint path in suburban Johnston, IA, popular with joggers and walkers from the various neighborhoods it runs through. The paved trail provides an important off-road...
Although short, the Reumpers Nature Trail runs under a beautiful canopy of trees along the former Chicago Northwestern Railroad in Radcliffe, a small town in central Iowa.
The Northwest 62nd Avenue Trail is a wide sidepath in Johnston, IA, that serves as an important off-road connector between many of the trails in the city's well-developed trail system and the greater...
Urbandale, Iowa is home to an extensive trails network; there are over 54 miles of trail spread across the city. The Meredith Drive Trail isn't necessarily the most scenic of the trails, it does form...
Running along a pleasant wooded corridor that follows the path of the Little Walnut Creek on the western outskirts of Urbandale, the Little Walnut Creek Trail is an excellent means of recreation for...
The Ewing Park Trail is a paved path, perfect for a short bike ride or jog, located in the city of Des Moines' Ewing Park. One of the city's largest public parks, the park is home to a popular lilac...
While Greater Des Moines is flush with multiuse trails, one of the paved pathways running through the suburb of Clive really stands out. Offering a string of trailside parks and fun twists and turns...
The Hubbard Prairie Trail is a one-mile rail-trail extending from the northwest edge of the small town of Hubbard in central Iowa to the Meier Wildlife Refuge. The refuge offers a pleasant place to...
The High Trestle Trail is one of the most pristine and highly trafficked trails in Iowa—even at night. The trail’s popularity is largely due to its famous 130-foot-tall High Trestle Bridge, which...
The Riverside Trail (or Riverside Park Trail) meanders alongside Middle Raccoon River. The trail begins on Velvet Avenue and 320th Street in Coon Rapids, Iowa and wanders into the riparian woodland on...
There are few better ways to experience Boone River without actually getting your feet wet than the Boone River Recreational Trail. The trail weaves along the scenic river, taking you from one end of...
The Praeri Rail Trail runs on an old section of railroad right-of-way between Zearing and Roland in central Iowa. Sections of the trail near Roland and McCallsburg have a crushed limestone surface,...
Love this little trail. I run/ bike here a lot. The views from the trestle are amazing and a lot of times recently bald eagles have been sitting in the trees nearby the trestle.. lots of wildlife to be seen in general... if you happen to be in the area and need your trail fix this is worth a look. You can start at either end.
We started at the south trailhead in Martinsville. NOT suitable for skating and probably not nice on a bike!!!
Sadly I only had the pleasure to ride from Woodward to the High Trestle Bridge but that short distance revealed a very wide concrete trail in excellent condition. Being a Friday midday there was little traffic on the trail or at the bridge allowing for some nice photography while enjoying my short ride. I only wish I could be there at night to see the awesome LED lighting this art masterpiece has to show!
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.
I started in greenwood park. This trail is short but connects to other trails in the area. I only rode a short portion because I wanted to connect to the walnut creek trail. It is thru the woods and a pleasant ride. I rode August 2019. The trail is smooth. There are benches along the trail. There were no bugs. There was an order of something in the woods that may have been dead but it wasn't that noticeable. The humidity was high but temps were nice upper 60's-low 80's the day I rode. I didn't see any wildlife.
Overall I like this trail and ride it often. There are sections that are unfortunately in deplorable condition. The same terribly large cracks in the pavement have existed near Mega 10 park and the Riverview/Nicholson Ford area for many years.
It is very rare to find a trail of this length with such a smooth and well maintained surface. Gentle railway grade provides just enough work. Amazing trail for serious marathon training or a leisurely recreational skate. No hazards and suitable for skaters of all levels, even beginners. We skated on a Monday morning so traffic on the trail was light. Next time we will be sure plan our skate to be at the bridge for sunset and to enjoy the amazing lighted art exhibit.
Paving from Slater east towards Huxley is supposed to begin summer of 2019. Further down the road the DOT is replacing a bridge for I35 over the trail with a box culvert so a little more pavement happening there. I think that is in the ten year plan, 2023 work stops just short of there.
why don't we have a current trail update map????????? Frustrating!!!!! Snow across pass approximately 1 mile north of Panora on April fools day, 2019. No way this is passable as of April fools day.
In Mid-March 2019, a bridge collapsed which carries the Raccoon River Valley Trail over the North Raccoon River just south Jefferson. The Trail is now closed between 252nd St and 265th St. No timeframe for repairs but certain to be closed for several months.
What a nice trail, under utilized and unsung. We rode from Breda to Swan Lake SP on a beautiful fall day. We only saw three other riders.
Get Your 2018 RTC TrailNation Jersey!
Download the TrailLink mobile app and take TrailLink with you!
Donate and Get a FREE 2019 RTC Guidebook!
TrailLink is a free service provided by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (a non-profit) and we need your support!
Map Search
_157342_st.jpg)
_0_st.jpg)
_105427_st.jpg)
_0_st.jpg)
_0_st.jpg)
