Find the top rated trails in Oskaloosa, whether you're looking an easy walking path or a long bike trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
The Ottumwa Trail System provides a scenic north-south route along the Des Moines River through the center of Ottumwa. Along the way, trail-goers can enjoy many of the city's natural treasures,...
Who says Iowa doesn’t have hills?! The winding route of the Volksweg Trail sticks mainly to the rolling hills and scenic viewpoints from Lake Red Rock all the way to the town of Pella. Dutch...
The 1.6-mile McVay Trail in Indianola provides a paved route for cyclists, walkers and joggers between East 5th Street and Pickard Park. The trail follows the bed of the former Chicago, Burlington and...
The South Tama Recreation Trail connects the adjacent towns of Tama and Toledo in Tama County, Iowa. The original section of the trail, a 1 mile stretch built on an abandoned railroad corridor, opened...
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 Kewash Nature Trail winds for nearly 14 miles between the towns of Keota and Washington. These endpoints were creatively combined to form the trail's name. The trail has a crushed limestone...
The Cedar View Trail provides a connection between the small cities of Fairfield and Libertyville in southeastern Iowa. A trailhead with parking and information on the trail greets users at the...
Nestled in the suburbs of Des Moines and traveling through the towns of Ankeny, Berwick, Pleasant Hill, and Altoona, the Gay Lea Wilson Trail is named for a local advocate who first conceived of a...
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 Fairfield Loop Trail forms a 16-mile ring around the town of Fairfield, mostly in the outlying areas of the countryside. The trail links two major preserves and connects city and county parks....
The Cinder Path in southern Iowa is notable as the state’s first rail-to-trail conversion. Following a shady route past farms and wetlands along the Chariton River between Chariton and Humeston for...
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 Ottumwa Trail System provides a scenic north-south route along the Des Moines River through the center of Ottumwa. Along the way, trail-goers can enjoy many of the city's natural treasures,...
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 South Tama Recreation Trail connects the adjacent towns of Tama and Toledo in Tama County, Iowa. The original section of the trail, a 1 mile stretch built on an abandoned railroad corridor, opened...
The Cinder Path in southern Iowa is notable as the state’s first rail-to-trail conversion. Following a shady route past farms and wetlands along the Chariton River between Chariton and Humeston for...
The Kewash Nature Trail winds for nearly 14 miles between the towns of Keota and Washington. These endpoints were creatively combined to form the trail's name. The trail has a crushed limestone...
The 1.6-mile McVay Trail in Indianola provides a paved route for cyclists, walkers and joggers between East 5th Street and Pickard Park. The trail follows the bed of the former Chicago, Burlington and...
The Fairfield Loop Trail forms a 16-mile ring around the town of Fairfield, mostly in the outlying areas of the countryside. The trail links two major preserves and connects city and county parks....
The Cedar View Trail provides a connection between the small cities of Fairfield and Libertyville in southeastern Iowa. A trailhead with parking and information on the trail greets users at the...
Who says Iowa doesn’t have hills?! The winding route of the Volksweg Trail sticks mainly to the rolling hills and scenic viewpoints from Lake Red Rock all the way to the town of Pella. Dutch...
Nestled in the suburbs of Des Moines and traveling through the towns of Ankeny, Berwick, Pleasant Hill, and Altoona, the Gay Lea Wilson Trail is named for a local advocate who first conceived of a...
The Ottumwa Trail System provides a scenic north-south route along the Des Moines River through the center of Ottumwa. Along the way, trail-goers can enjoy many of the city's natural treasures,...
The Cinder Path in southern Iowa is notable as the state’s first rail-to-trail conversion. Following a shady route past farms and wetlands along the Chariton River between Chariton and Humeston for...
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 Kewash Nature Trail winds for nearly 14 miles between the towns of Keota and Washington. These endpoints were creatively combined to form the trail's name. The trail has a crushed limestone...
The South Tama Recreation Trail connects the adjacent towns of Tama and Toledo in Tama County, Iowa. The original section of the trail, a 1 mile stretch built on an abandoned railroad corridor, opened...
The Fairfield Loop Trail forms a 16-mile ring around the town of Fairfield, mostly in the outlying areas of the countryside. The trail links two major preserves and connects city and county parks....
The Cedar View Trail provides a connection between the small cities of Fairfield and Libertyville in southeastern Iowa. A trailhead with parking and information on the trail greets users at the...
Nestled in the suburbs of Des Moines and traveling through the towns of Ankeny, Berwick, Pleasant Hill, and Altoona, the Gay Lea Wilson Trail is named for a local advocate who first conceived of a...
Who says Iowa doesn’t have hills?! The winding route of the Volksweg Trail sticks mainly to the rolling hills and scenic viewpoints from Lake Red Rock all the way to the town of Pella. Dutch...
The 1.6-mile McVay Trail in Indianola provides a paved route for cyclists, walkers and joggers between East 5th Street and Pickard Park. The trail follows the bed of the former Chicago, Burlington and...
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...
Steepest grade (according to our Garmin GPSMap64) was 8% on the trail; on the detour (crossing the dam to accomplish the detour) was 15%. No signs to direct you around the detour ¿¿, but there is a foot bridge crossing the river that connects Hoewell Station Rec Area with North Overlook Rec Area. But it requires riding across the dam. While crossing the dam you will see that the trail could be reopened ¿¿.
I ride trails in Kansas City, have ridden on portions of The Katy Trail, etc. this trail isn’t in as good of shape as The Katy Trail but it was good enough to have a great ride! I rode from Keota to Washington. The first day was a day after a storm and there were branches, vegetation and some mud spots. All part of a nature trail bike ride. The next day most of the vegetation, branches, etc were cleared. The trail was dried up and it was very good. It is mostly flat with small inclines and declines. Great ride!
This trail does have some hills but nothing too hard. The north part was tree lined, there were bridges and several views of the lake. You do ride next to a highway in some portions but you are still on the paved trail so no traffic. The south end is blocked due to building of the Hydro plant. I just loaded up my bike after I was done with the north and unloaded and went around the south end and up to Pella. The south end is very pretty but the ride to Pella was not very scenic after you left the lake. All in all a great trail that will be better when they get the construction done. Will definitely do this again this fall.
Lots of bridges over creeks and drainage ditches, but the views aren't terribly scenic, and the bridges feel pretty rickety. Occasional signs of farm life are a nice sight. The riding surface is above average, with some cracking in spots. Also, watch out for big tree nuts on the trail.
Just finished riding the Chichaqua Valley Trail. Even though the temperature today was 100 degrees, I really enjoyed the trail. The trail surface is paved and easy to ride on. I found no bad areas of the trail and the tree coverage of the majority of the trail length makes for comfortable riding. Several nice small bars to stop at to refresh in the pass through towns. I was pleased to hear that the trail will be the location of the Pedalers Jamboree Iowa music festival on August 26 and 27. Should be a great time! I will be back.
We had a great ride from Berwick to Baxter. We were pleasantly surprised to find the awful coated surface east of Mingo had been replaced with a new layer of asphalt!! This was done after we rode the trail last July (2016). It just made the whole ride so enjoyable and we have now added this to our "favorite --gotta do" list when we are in the Des Moines area. The improvements are greatly appreciated!!
I am a regular bike rider and usually ride for at least 30 miles round trip on any given day, but after 15 miles round trip on this Trail I was ready to call it a day. Trail is too soft even for mountain bikes as I was sinking into dirt. I would suggest to walk only on this trail.
The 3.7 mile section of the trail that was pulverized and seal coated in 2013 received a new asphalt surface in October of 2016.
Starts out grassy at the south end, then at Derby things get better. Some Amish kids were heading south on horse and buggy so I let them pass, then continued north. Wish we would have met at the covered bridge, but they don't approve of photos.
We loved this trail. Like others said, there is a part east of Mingo that is in poorer condition, however, we parked at the trailhead in Bondurant which is phenomenal. Rode to Mingo and back giving us 30 miles. Had lunch in Bondurant at Founders Irish Pub which was great with outdoor seating. After lunch we rode west for 6 miles, it then connects to two other trails. It is in excellent condition. Much of it is concrete. Back in Bondurant is a new Brewery named Reclaimed Rails with a great selection of craft beers for after a long ride. Highly recommended!
About 3 years ago my wife and I used to ride this trail a lot. It scenery is gorgeous and the trail WAS smooth. Yes, it is a little dangerous in spots. If you zone out and your wheel were to go off the trail, in spots, you would plummet 20 – 30 onto rocks and or Over rocks. (Stay aware and have all your life and health insurance paid on time.)
However, last nite I rode the trail from Bondurant to Baxter. After passing thru Mingo the trail became awful. The surface looks and feels like they poured oiled on it, and then sharp shards of crushed white rock. It is wavy, bumpy and absolutely horrible on your tires and wheels. If someone were to lay their bike down, the road rash would look like someone took hundreds of shards of glass and ran them over your body.
This goes on for about 4 – 5 miles until you pass IRA.
What is sad is that the bartender in Baxter claims that Jasper County was granted funds to fix it and this is what they did. Now they claimed they were going to resurface it this spring. But, didn’t.
Between Bondurant and Mingo I came upon many people riding bikes. From Mingo to Baxter, about 10 miles, I did not come upon any people riding bikes.
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