Find the top rated birding trails in Fairfield, whether you're looking for an easy short birding trail or a long birding trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a birding trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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I am giving it 2 stars because i applaud DesMoines County for bringing a trail to SE Iowa.
But the trail is rough. We rode to Hickory Bend Recreation, which after miles of riding a washed out trail that routed you onto secondary gravel roads (BRING TIRE REPAIR KIT), we found an outhouse & 2 piles of gravel on a weeded lot. No shelter house. Water fountain or benches. Huh.
The trail has no shade. It is cut out of farmers' crop ground so you see absolutely nothing but corn & beans. There are no benches along this route. Nothing to look at. We saw a glimmer of water two ditches & a treeline over. We didn't even see a bird!
This part of the trail is crushed gravel. We did not ride the 4 mile paved route. We have had alot of rain & mother nature was not kind to it. That cannot be helped but I almost flew over my handlebars when I came down yet another hair pin curve and right into a washed out trail with deep fissures. And, these were everywhere.
Dangerous.
Weeds growing up in the crushed rock. Lack of clear directional signage & the part of trail where you dismount & go thru a cattle farmer's 3 metal fence gates is quite odd.
This trail seems poorly thought out, like a swath of trail was simply cut out of farm ground & then rerouted down gravel roads when every few miles the trail didn't seem to work.
Oddly it is labor day weekend and we saw absolutely NO ONE on the trail but we did dodge several trucks on the gravel roads. Maybe that is a sign that there are better trails....
So, if you go. Bring sunscreen. A tire repair kit in case a rock slits your tire on the gravel roads. Wear a hat, 100% in the sun. Bring alot of water. Be careful of the multiple wash outs & know this trail is hilly. Hairpin hilly.
I cannot recommend unless you really just need something to do & have a desire to ride thru miles and miles of corn and beans & don't care. Truthfully we were so busy looking down for washouts and fissures that we would not have appreciated pretty scenery.
Also, parking areas are weedy & after dismounting, walking bike back to put on the rack, I look down and I have burrs all over both shoes to pick off.
We rode the inverted T section shown in the map here as of July 2018. It has been extended to Cash and 8th streets, south of the Case factory. We saw a great blue heron in the Flint River. Surface is paved concrete. Travelers looking to ride in the Burlington area should also check out the northern section of this trail; a pdf map is available at the Des Moines County website. We have not been there. There are some sections further south that look like they will be connected up eventually; local riders appear to know how to use road links to do that.
Just east of town, there is dedicated parking by the town garage. Some railroad structures remain. You can ride a couple miles north on partly shaded trail. The path also goes a half mile south on grass covered gravel to the highway. The three mile segment running south from Columbus Junction not far from this section is very grassy and had some trees down. The Iowa State bike map shows it open.
Nice gravel and dirt trail, flat grade. First half between Washington and West Chester often under trees lining the trail. Freshly laid gravel in first 3-4 miles outside Washington was a bit thick at times and bogged me down even with 700x38 tires meant for such trails. Main objection is lack of services outside Washington, particularly water. West Chester has very nice trail side park, but no water. Pump behind the shelter but it was off and this was early June. Trail end in Keota was disappointing and ugly, ending confusingly in the middle of a co-op, tho nice golf course next door. If any facilities nearby I didn't see them. Two bottles of water and ran out at last 7 miles of return trip, so may want to take three if riding full trail round trip. Overall nice scenery and worth the trip.
My wife and I rode the entire length of the Kewash trail from Washington to Keota and back. The paved section was a little bumpy in places but not too bad. Would have been better if it had been swept of leaves and sticks. Once on the unpaved section it was a lot smoother though a good game of "pick up sticks" would have made it much better. There were places where if it was wet it could have caused us some grief but only had to walk one short section which was sort of steep with a little mud. Maybe 20 or 30 feet with a 6 foot section of mud with a gravel path to walk through. Someone braver than me probably could ride right through it. Not trying to scare anyone,the trail is not perfect but we had a great time really enjoyed ourselves and will definitely ride it again.By the way, we both rode on 23mm tires and had no problems.
This is a nice, well maintained, and mostly level concrete path starting from Pond Road until Tama Road, or if you choose to go to the riverfront.
It won't be challenging enough for the hard core biker, but I was pleasantly surprised and thought it was an enjoyable trail. It's mostly flat and a nice ride. It travels along the river,across interesting bridges, and behind parks, businesses, and homes. Lots to look at and was fun to ride today. It's not point A to point B but has many different paths.
If you camp in Jefferson Co Park, it is very hard to find your way out of the park and to the loop trail. The loop trail is great, but we got very frustrated trying to get to it from our campsite in Jefferson Co Park
Was visiting for 2 weeks, would take the trial and go to the park for a swim and continue the ride. Nice ride, some parts are opened to the wind which makes it a bit hard but otherwise fantastic!
restrooms and benches along the way also
We rode this trail from Washington to West Chester and had a great time. When one is on this trail there will be no doubt that you're in Iowa. There's a really nice little part just off the trail in West Chester that is great for a snack break.
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