Find the top rated running trails in Iowa City, whether you're looking for an easy short running trail or a long running trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a running trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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There are some rough spots on this trail! Also, just north of Albany is a section of gravel road to travel. I don’t know how long it is bc I don’t take my road bike on gravel or fresh chip seal.
Stayed at the Thomson Causeway Campground and rented bikes from Arnold's Bikes in Thomson (highly recommended). The ride north to Savanna was beautiful as was the ride down south to see the Fulton Dutch windmill. Good diversity of fields, tree lined runs, and a general feeling of peacefulness not found near Chicago.
Only gripes were where there were stretches of bike path that had: sketchy amounts of wood debris, lack of signage when zizagging onto local roads, and deteriorating surfaces that made for a very uncomfortable ride on road bike tires (23-25mm).
Only had time to go from Savannah to Thomson. It is all paved. The first part is tree lined trail. The water in the rivers was high and the trail could use some weed wacking. After a while you got on to country roads that went past the river. It was windy and there wasn't a lot to shield you but it was a nice day. I would have liked to have seen more of the Mississippi River. Maybe 25% or so you can see the Mississippi but the rest of the view is blocked by houses or trees. Tons of parking in Savannah by the railroad car.
I rode from the trailhead at Sunset Park in Rock Island to the Arsenal Bridge where I crossed into Iowa, so this review is only for that short section of the trail. It's urban and it moves onto and off the high levee overlooking the Mississippi with ease.
Parking at Sunset Park is easy, and routefinding isn't a challenge at all.
Just head north and follow the signs. Once you're out of the park, you'll climb onto a flood control levee overlooking Old Man River. The views are spectacular. The trail eventually comes off the levee and into a neighborhood that has an industrial urban feel to it, but I don't mean that in a bad way. It adds flavor and it just felt very safe. The pavement is as smooth as it gets and the signage is just about right. People along the trail were kind and friendly.
Bottom line, this is a really nice section of trail that overlooks an iconic American landmark. It's well worth the ride if you get the chance.
I was traveling through the Quad Cities on the way home to northwest Iowa from Indiana and had a chance to stop and ride some of the trails on both sides of the river here. Most of my riding was on the Illinois side, but I crossed the river on the Centennial Bridge, rode through downtown Davenport on this trail and then crossed the river again on the Arsenal Bridge.
So this review is only for the section of the trail between the two bridges. That said, I loved it. Downtown Davenport was vibrant and this trail was smooth, safe, easy to navigate and well signed. To see the Mississippi up close on a bike gives you a real sense for just how big and powerful it is. I loved the entire experience and will come back to ride more.
This is a short, crushed limestone trail located just north of I-80 at West Branch Iowa. I rode it on Thursday June 7, 2018. I wasn't expecting much but really enjoyed it. A big part of it is West Branch. What a delightful town. If you have time, stop and see the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Visitor Center.
The trail is well used. There was a guy on a bike with pruning sheers taking out low hanging branches. Everyone was friendly. Be careful at the first road crossing out of West Branch. It's at a weird angle and it's a relatively high speed road. Other than that, just enjoy it.
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!
I headed south from Evansdale toward La Porte City. It's a good trail in the fact that it's flat so I didn't have to struggle with lots of hills like some other trails around the Cedar Valley. However there is a part of the trail closer to Evansdale that is gone in which you have to take your bike on a little dirt path to continue riding. There is also a bridge out closer to La Porte City. I hope they plan on fixing these issues so that the trail is in better shape.
Just started riding a bike for the first time since I was 10 and this trail is very enjoyable
Ride the Iowa trail to Lindsey Park in Davenport,and take water taxi to Illinois. There ride the Mississippi trail west to Sunset park or east to Savanna Illinois, about 70 miles. There are 3 campgrounds on the Illinois side.
The water taxi is seasonal and daily pass ($) available.
An alternate crossing is the bridge at the Rock Island Arsenal. (HELMETS ARE REQUIRED at Arsenal)
ENJOY !
You may not want to try this on a narrow-tired road bike, the surface is largely either turf, sand, or rocky turf :)
The Westernmost segment is about 3.2 miles long, somewhere in the middle there is maybe 50-75 yards of boggy (wet) grass from a spring, your tires may cut in a little.
It's about .7 miles of surface roads to the Center segment, which is about 2.3 miles long.
The Easternmost segment appears to have been abandoned. The TrailLink map shows the West end of this segment beginning at Alderman Rd, but, I don't think that the trail is accessible there unless you ride a fat bike and enjoy serious boon-docking. There -is- access to the Easternmost segment at Linn Grove Rd, (about 3.3 miles of Gravel roads from the East end of the Center segment), but, it's only passable going East, and then only for about .25 miles of nearly knee-high grass, until it dead-ends into a fence.
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