Explore the best rated trails in Carroll, IA. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Galloping Goose Trail (IA) and T-Bone Trail. With more than 18 trails covering 3931 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.
Rode from Brayton just past Hamlin and back to Brayton. Was a nice ride but chose to ride on a day with a strong wind from the Northwest. Enjoyed all the farmland and stopping to watch a farmer combine his corn. Will definitely ride this trail again.
I agree with the previous post to some extent but didn’t find the trail between Audubon and Exira to be in horrible condition. I liked the 8.5 miles but the biggest issue was the grasshoppers on the trail in the wide open sections! Ugh! But it was a nice flat trail with interesting spots along the ride.
What a great trail! We explored the trail over two days. We started in Lakeview and went down to Brenda for a really enjoyable 30ish mile day. This portion of the trail is in great condition and passes through some wildlife preserve, protected marsh land, and natural resource management areas. We saw an incredible amount of wildlife. Check out a little café called Kays for some homemade pie. For a second day we started at Brena and went down to Caroll, Iowa. This portion of Trail is not as good condition as the northern section. The views are really pretty and the greed is still there were so slight that it’s virtually flat. This portion of the trail has a lot of exposed areas that could be a bit of a challenge if there was a strong wind.
A nice ride. The hub is a good place to start.
Neat backwoods all grass ‘trail.’ This is more of a hunters/outdoorsman’s path disguised as a trail however is definitely rideable on a mountain bike or hybrid if you air out a tad. Id suggest parking in Lanesboro near the town playground- ride south and back will make for a decent ride. There’s a turnout towards the south end… when you’re in the woods south of trestle where you can pick up some additional distance. This place is backwoods! You get to see all of what Iowa really is here: a melting pot of farmland, woods, the deep south, and the Wild West, hehe.
We took electric scooters and did 16miles of this trail was so beautiful seen 6 deer 5 turkeys will glad go back and explore more
Grade the trail! This review serves as a guide so that you know what condition the trail is in before you go. Here are the ratings:
A – Excellent condition, new or like-new.
B – Very good condition, not new, but still a great trail.
C – Fair condition, starting to see a fair amount of ruts, bumps or heaves.
D – Poor condition, lots of ruts, bumps or heaves.
F – Very poor condition, would not recommend riding this trail at all.
The hot western IA summer sun wreaks havoc on this mostly asphalt trail. LOTS of ruts. There is a 3 mile (approx) section north of Exira that is concrete. On the basis of trail surface alone, that section would get a (B) rating. A substantial portion of this trail (1/3 to 1/2?) runs amongst the trees. They do not blow the sticks off of the trail. When they mow the grass along the trail, they do not blow it off. Be aware of the bridge abutments, most all are very rough - some have a 2 inch bump. The gravel road crossings are not paved, which is to be expected on a rural trail. In addition, there are 3 short sections where you will be riding on gravel. One in particular to watch out for is near the I-80 interchange where the asphalt trail in completely covered with gravel. This would be an awesome rail-trail if it were repaired and maintained!
Overall rating: C/D
Feel free to copy this format and grade other trails as desired.
The first time I road this trail it was very new. I have been back many times and have watch the community support the trail more and more. Now there are restaurants and hotels that cater to the riders.
Beautiful trail to ride right next to the lake and through parks. Most of the trail is on the sidewalk, but some is on a bike lane in the street (low traffic).
We look for trail segments where we can ride 6-10 miles, then find a meal, then return to our car. The Breda-Carnarvon segment on the Sauk Rail Trail is one such ride. We parked our car on a shady street near the fairgrounds park in Breda. (Breda has at least one store where you can buy provisions) Got on the paved trail and rode 7 miles to Carnarvon, a segment with gentle grades and the bridge approaches are good. Just to the west of the trail in Carnarvon is a bar/cafe, that happened to have a lunch buffet on the day we were there. Its a great trail with well maintained right-of-way. An alternative would have been to ride to Carroll, eat, and return. Or if we had been more ambitious, to ride to Lake City and back. We'll do those rides next time.
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