Find the top rated trails in Storm Lake, 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 Puddle Jumper Trail is a 2 mile long rail-trail that connects the western Iowa communities of Orange City and Alton. The trail is surfaced with crushed quartzite and also features a bridle path...
The Twin Lakes Trail forms a loop around North Twin Lake, one of a pair of gorgeous glacial lakes in rural northwestern Iowa. The concrete trail takes users through state and county parks, with ample...
The Spencer Recreational Trail traverses scenic wetlands and prairies on the outskirts of the small city of Spencer, offering users a peaceful, paved path along the Little Sioux River. The trail...
The Sauk Rail Trail offers some of the best riding in rural, west-central Iowa. The paved 33-mile trail is capped at either end by a state park and offers a diverse mix of views and experiences in...
The Three Rivers Trail runs for nearly 40 miles from the small community of Rolfe—named after the early English settler who married Pocahontas—to just west of Eagle Grove. The mostly rural trail is...
This trail skirts the northern shore of Storm Lake, connecting the town of Lakeside in the west to the Emerald Park subdivision. The trail is made up of off-road concrete pathways and some on-road...
The Iowa Great Lakes resort on the northern border with Minnesota is a longtime destination for fishermen and vacationers who arrived from big cities by rail. Dickinson County employed two different...
The Twin Lakes Trail forms a loop around North Twin Lake, one of a pair of gorgeous glacial lakes in rural northwestern Iowa. The concrete trail takes users through state and county parks, with ample...
The Three Rivers Trail runs for nearly 40 miles from the small community of Rolfe—named after the early English settler who married Pocahontas—to just west of Eagle Grove. The mostly rural trail is...
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 Laurens Walking Trail runs for just about 1 mile along an old railroad line on the south side of town. The trail passes through an open corridor with scattered trees among Iowa's farm fields. The...
This trail skirts the northern shore of Storm Lake, connecting the town of Lakeside in the west to the Emerald Park subdivision. The trail is made up of off-road concrete pathways and some on-road...
The Spencer Recreational Trail traverses scenic wetlands and prairies on the outskirts of the small city of Spencer, offering users a peaceful, paved path along the Little Sioux River. The trail...
The Iowa Great Lakes resort on the northern border with Minnesota is a longtime destination for fishermen and vacationers who arrived from big cities by rail. Dickinson County employed two different...
The Puddle Jumper Trail is a 2 mile long rail-trail that connects the western Iowa communities of Orange City and Alton. The trail is surfaced with crushed quartzite and also features a bridle path...
The Sauk Rail Trail offers some of the best riding in rural, west-central Iowa. The paved 33-mile trail is capped at either end by a state park and offers a diverse mix of views and experiences in...
This trail skirts the northern shore of Storm Lake, connecting the town of Lakeside in the west to the Emerald Park subdivision. The trail is made up of off-road concrete pathways and some on-road...
The Iowa Great Lakes resort on the northern border with Minnesota is a longtime destination for fishermen and vacationers who arrived from big cities by rail. Dickinson County employed two different...
The Sauk Rail Trail offers some of the best riding in rural, west-central Iowa. The paved 33-mile trail is capped at either end by a state park and offers a diverse mix of views and experiences in...
The Three Rivers Trail runs for nearly 40 miles from the small community of Rolfe—named after the early English settler who married Pocahontas—to just west of Eagle Grove. The mostly rural trail is...
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 Laurens Walking Trail runs for just about 1 mile along an old railroad line on the south side of town. The trail passes through an open corridor with scattered trees among Iowa's farm fields. The...
The Twin Lakes Trail forms a loop around North Twin Lake, one of a pair of gorgeous glacial lakes in rural northwestern Iowa. The concrete trail takes users through state and county parks, with ample...
The Puddle Jumper Trail is a 2 mile long rail-trail that connects the western Iowa communities of Orange City and Alton. The trail is surfaced with crushed quartzite and also features a bridle path...
The Spencer Recreational Trail traverses scenic wetlands and prairies on the outskirts of the small city of Spencer, offering users a peaceful, paved path along the Little Sioux River. The trail...
I've ridden this entire trail and have really come to love it. It has a personality all its own and is completely different than the other trails I've ridden in the region.
From my perspective, it can be broken into four sections, each of which has a different feel. From the south, the first section starts at Swan Lake State Park and skirts Carroll to the south and west before reaching Maple River. This section is about 8.5 miles long and surprisingly hilly. After leaving the state park, you will pass through some subdivisions before crossing underneath US 71 and US 30. The pavement here is a mixed bag but in reasonably good shape. There are some tight spots but they're well marked. Use caution when crossing the Union Pacific mainline at Iris and Jade. There are a lot of trains on this route and they're typically moving pretty quickly.
The 7.2 mile stretch from Maple River to Breda is my favorite part of the trail. It's a gentle rise almost the whole way but you're surrounded by bigger hills that give it more of a mountain feel without the steep climb. It was a really pleasant surprise. There's also a wind farm here. The pavement is nice wide poured concrete. Breda's a nice little town with a general store on the main street.
The third section runs from Breda to the railroad underpass on Quincy. It's about 6.4 miles and pleasant. The pavement is poured concrete like the second section and as smooth as it gets. The jog to get under the railroad overpass is gravel, so use caution.
The last section is what I call the water section. It runs by Black Hawk Marsh on its way to Lake View and Black Hawk Lake State Park. It's heavily forested and runs through wetlands before ending just a few blocks from the heart of one of the prettiest little towns in the Upper Midwest.
We can’t say much about this trail since we decided to try it out for the first time during a day with 25+ mile an hour winds coming from the south. But what we were able to do, about 6 miles starting from Lake View, was very well maintained. The first 3 miles are nicely wooded & protected. We happily paid the daily fee which is asked to help with maintenance of the trail. Other bikers that we talked to said we’d be one of the few who have actually paid, which I find to be sad when it’s such a nice trail that’s for the enjoyment of all.
I'd never even heard of this trail until my wife and I found it this weekend. We didn't have time to cover the entire trail, but road about 26 miles RT from Lake View to Breda. Lake View is a nice town where there are a couple of trail heads with plenty of parking. The trail itself is flawless and runs along the lake at the beginning and through the beautiful Iowa countryside the rest of the way. The scenery has rolling hills although the trail itself is flat. Can't wait to ride the rest of it!!
To look at the trail map (which we did) you would think that there is a trail around both Spirit Lake and Lake Okoboji. Nothing could be further from the truth. Much of the trails consist of residental roads, highways, with a few dedicated trails mixed in, which simply stop, with no instructions. Whats even worse is the fact that there are ZERO signs anywhere to tell you where the "trail" is. Maybe I'm spoiled living in central Iowa. If you're a boater, head to the Iowa great lakes. If you're a biker, go elsewhere!!
We rode the trail today from Lake View to Carroll. One feature we really like is the mile markers (for both directions) We ride this trail a few times each year so we definitely liked the bridge improvements with cement replacing the wooden bridge floors. And the addition of so many bike fix- it stations is a nice thing to have along the way. We also like the shelter at the 2 mile location out of Lake View. Love the improvements. Great maintenance all along the way. One of our favorite Iowa trails. (we drive 2 hours to access and ride this trail) Thank you!!!
I run this trail at least 4-5 times a week and I never get tired of it. My route usually consists of the miles between the trailhead in Rolfe and a few miles outside of Bradgate. It is a quite and easy run. There are cricks and rivers all along this route which provide many wildlife spotting.
I would highly recommend this trail to anyone!
I'm from Kansas City and rode this trail on Labor Day weekend. It was a peaceful, quiet ride thru corn fields and the beautiful country sides of rural Iowa. The trail is in great shape and is very smooth until you have to cross several gravel roads. Like others have said, bring extra hydration and snacks as there's not much along the way to stop.
I rode the last 5-6 miles at the west end of Three River Trail, up and back, from Bradgate to Rolfe (in my quest to bike in all 99 counties!). I found it peaceful/serene and beautiful. The crushed limestone rode very well and there several places for photo opps. Another plus is the R/R (restroom) availability in Melson Park half way between the two towns as well as the J&B Wilcox Shelter at the end of the trail in Rolfe. Bradgate has a very friendly park-art at a shelter where you can take a moment - and a photo! I definitely want to be returning to finish the trail someday!
We rode the trail from Humboldt to Rolfe. Most of our riding is on road bikes but for this day we took our 29ers. We were shocked how quiet this trail was for a nice Saturday. We only met 3 other bikes in 40 miles on the trail and only a handfull of runners/walkers. This trail is great and very well maintained with trailside rest stops in Rutland and Bradgate before arriving in Rolfe. We had lunch at the Community Pub before heading back to Humboldt. Very nice views along this trail! Look forward to going back and riding from Humboldt to Eagle Grove next time.
Road from the parking lot of Fareway around the entire loop except for 3 miles to Milford. Trail is mostly asphalt that is new this summer (2015). A huge improvement from the previous cracked concrete. The trail is tree lined in parts and beautiful. It goes across several bridges and has beautiful views of the lakes. The trail also takes you past multiple bars and resturants. There are a few areas where there is a bike lane on a lower traffic road. There are spray painted white arrows in some places where it is confusing which way to go. If you stay with the white arrows you will be fine. Fun trail!
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