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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...
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IA |
20.9 mi |
Asphalt, Concrete
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Although only a mile long, the Gilbert Drive Trail is a key connector between two other trails in the northeastern Iowa community of Evansdale. To the west, it intersects with the Cedar Valley Nature...
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IA |
1 mi |
Concrete
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Note: This developing route is not yet fully contiguous – it is just over 50% complete. Please refer to the Trail Map for more information on the existing sections of trail, as well as the online...
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DC, IA, ID, IL, IN, MD, MT, NE, OH, PA, WA, WV, WY |
3743.9 mi |
Asphalt, Concrete, Crushed Stone
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Running through suburban neighborhoods on the western edge of Johnston, IA, the Green Meadows North Trail offers a pleasant dose of nature and serves as a great recreational amenity for nearby...
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IA |
1.02 mi |
Asphalt
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The Green Meadows West Trail is a short multi-use path that provides an off-road connection for the Green Meadows neighborhood to the rest of the Johnston area's network of trails, enabling residents...
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IA |
0.6 mi |
Asphalt
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Forging a link between the South Riverside Trail (and the smaller, unpaved Trolley Trail) on one end and the Cedar Prairie Trail on the other, the Greenhill Trail is a key component in the expansive...
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IA |
4.68 mi |
Concrete
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For residents looking for a low-key space to get some exercise, the Greenway Trail provides a swathe of nature nestled between suburban subdivisions of Altoona. The trail runs the length of Greenway...
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IA |
1.1 mi |
Asphalt
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The trail is made up of two as yet unconnected segments: the northern segment is about half a mile long, providing access to Grinnell Community Senior School, Lion's Park, and Iowa Valley Community...
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IA |
1.8 mi |
Asphalt
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The Grundy County Lake Trail circles its namesake 40-acre lake, where outdoor enthusiasts can enjoy fishing, boating, and many other recreational opportunities. The paved trail then continues north,...
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IA |
3 mi |
Asphalt, Concrete
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The Heart of Iowa Nature Trail traverses classic Iowa farmland along the former route of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad, also known as the Milwaukee Road. The trail transitions...
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IA |
25.8 mi |
Asphalt, Concrete, Crushed Stone, Dirt, Grass
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The High Trestle Trail is one of the most pristine and highly trafficked trails in Iowa—even at night. The trail’s popularity is largely due to its famous 130-foot-tall High Trestle Bridge, which...
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IA |
30.1 mi |
Asphalt, Concrete
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The Hubbard Prairie Trail is a one-mile rail-trail extending from the northwest edge of the small town of Hubbard in central Iowa to the Meier Wildlife Refuge. The refuge offers a pleasant place to...
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IA |
1.3 mi |
Crushed Stone
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A multi-use sidepath that runs from University Avenue to 1st Street in Cedar Falls, the Hudson Road Trail helps provide off-road access to the campus of the University of Northern Iowa, and forms an...
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IA |
2.22 mi |
Concrete
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Des Moines' Inter-Urban Trail was opened in 1998 on the abandoned tracks of the Urbandale streetcar line. Residents and visitors of Iowa could ride the electric-powered trolley from Urbandale to Des...
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IA |
1.3 mi |
Asphalt, Concrete
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The Iowa 330/US 30 Trail stretches from just west of the small town of Melbourne to the outskirts of Marshalltown, the largest city and county seat of Marshall County, located close to the geographic...
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IA |
11.1 mi |
Concrete
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It took a nearly a decade of work and collaboration between two Central Iowa communities and a host of other partners to move the JewEllsworth Trail from vision to reality. The trail sits in the...
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IA |
3.5 mi |
Concrete
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The John Pat Dorrian Trail, formerly known as the East River Trail, runs for nearly 3.5 miles from Pete Crivaro Park in south Des Moines to Birdland Park and Marina just north of downtown. At this...
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IA |
3.4 mi |
Asphalt
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The Johnston Interurban Trail, built on a corridor used by Iowa's Inter-Urban Railway from 1906 until 1948, provides an important connection for the area's top-notch trail system, which enables trail...
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IA |
1.7 mi |
Asphalt
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Providing a pleasant off-road route between the two Des Moines suburbs of Urbandale and Johnston, the Johnston to Urbandale Trail also serves as one of the main points of connection from Urbandale's...
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IA |
2.73 mi |
Asphalt
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The Kruidenier Trail cuts through beautifully landscaped areas around Gray’s Lake and leads you into downtown Des Moines. The park offers a permanent on-site bike rental facility, restrooms, and a...
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IA |
1.9 mi |
Asphalt, Concrete
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As it runs directly through the heart of Marshalltown in central Iowa, access to the Linn Creek Recreational Trail is easy for many of the city's residents. They will want to take advantage of it,...
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IA |
10 mi |
Asphalt
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Forming an important connection in the area's excellent network of multi-use trails, the Lone Tree Road Trail parallels its namesake roadway for over two miles in the northern reaches of Cedar Falls,...
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IA |
2.31 mi |
Concrete
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It may be hard to believe now when you see children laughing on the playground and neighbors out on a morning jog but Easter Lake and the park that surrounds it sit on the site of a coal mine that...
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IA |
6 mi |
Concrete
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Built along the side of the roadway, the Martin Luther King Jr. Drive Trail takes you from right outside the heart of Waterloo's urban riverside area into acres of beautiful, open Iowa farmland,...
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IA |
3.54 mi |
Concrete
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A sidepath trail located along the side of the adjacent busy parkway that shares its name, the Martin Luther King Jr. Trail may not provide the sort of pleasant, natural trail experience that other...
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IA |
1.1 mi |
Asphalt
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The Meredith Trail connects from downtown Des Moines west to Gray’s Lake Park. The trail picks up off where the Principal Riverwalk leaves off along the Des Moines River. At the confluence with...
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IA |
5.2 mi |
Asphalt
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Part of an expansive trail network in the Greater Des Moines region, the 26-mile Neal Smith Trail rolls along the banks of the Des Moines River through the Ding Darling Greenway conservation area and...
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IA |
26 mi |
Asphalt
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Located just over thirty miles east of Des Moines, the small city of Newton boasts a charming midwestern feel - and complementing the city's charm is the lovely Newton Hike and Bike Trail, which...
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IA |
6 mi |
Concrete
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The Northwest 62nd Avenue Trail is a wide sidepath in Johnston, IA, that serves as an important off-road connector between many of the trails in the city's well-developed trail system and the greater...
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IA |
3.1 mi |
Asphalt
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This is a shared-use path located on the east side of Northwest Beaver Drive in Johnston, Iowa. The trail connects residents to two recreational sites on the west shore of Saylorville Lake as well as...
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IA |
3 mi |
Asphalt, Concrete
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The Old Creamery Nature Trail, running between Vinton and Dysart, is so named for the Old Creamery Theater Company building in Garrison, another tiny farm community through which the trail passes. The...
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IA |
15.3 mi |
Cinder, Crushed Stone, Gravel
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The Oralabor Gateway Trail is a 5.2 mile concrete-surfaced spur branching off from the Neal Smith Trail south of Saylorville Lake and just north of NW 66th Avenue. While running adjacent to suburban...
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IA |
5.2 mi |
Concrete
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The Pine Lake Trail runs through a heavily wooded state park of the same name, which is especially known for its 250-year-old white pine trees. The trail begins at Deer Park, a half mile east of...
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IA |
2.4 mi |
Concrete
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Central Iowa's Pioneer Trail—which gets its name from the early settlers of Grundy County—is built on a former rail line that once connected the towns of Holland and Reinbeck and the communities in...
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IA |
11.5 mi |
Crushed Stone
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The Praeri Rail Trail runs on an old section of railroad right-of-way between Zearing and Roland in central Iowa. Sections of the trail near Roland and McCallsburg have a crushed limestone surface,...
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IA |
10.5 mi |
Crushed Stone, Dirt, Grass
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A lovely concrete and asphalt path that traverses through a pleasant, tree-lined corridor in the southern edge of Cedar Falls, the Prairie Lakes Trail offers plenty of means of recreation and serves...
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IA |
3.4 mi |
Asphalt, Concrete
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To the residents of Lastrobe, the Lincoln Avenue Rails to Trails Greenway is more than a simple off-road path: it also a social asset, a place where community members of all ages and walks of life can...
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IA |
1.5 mi |
Asphalt
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Although short, the Reumpers Nature Trail runs under a beautiful canopy of trees along the former Chicago Northwestern Railroad in Radcliffe, a small town in central Iowa.
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IA |
0.3 mi |
Cinder
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The River Forest Road Trail sits atop the levee along the Cedar River on the west side of Evansdale, Iowa. (It's alternatively called the Cedar River Levee Trail for this reason.) The paved shared-use...
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IA |
1.5 mi |
Asphalt
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Following a former railroad corridor, the River's Edge Trail (formerly known as Iowa River Trail) will one day span 34 miles from Marshalltown in Marshall County to Steamboat Rock in Hardin County....
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IA |
2.7 mi |
Concrete
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Connecting Waterloo's urban center with a popular recreation area that supports the local ATV community, the Riverview Recreation Area Trail forms a vital link in the area's multi-use trail network...
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IA |
2.7 mi |
Concrete
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The Rock Creek Recreation Bike Trail is a paved multi-use trail that provides a connection between the small, charming college town of Grinnell and Rock Creek State Park, a popular destination for...
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IA |
5.8 mi |
Asphalt
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When complete, the Rolling Prairie Tri-County Trail System will connect several communities and two state parks as it travels through quintessential northeastern Iowa prairie. Following an 80-mile...
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IA |
15 mi |
Asphalt, Crushed Stone
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The Sergeant Road Trail is part of the larger trails system in the Cedar Valley region of Iowa, which includes the cities of Cedar Falls and Waterloo. The trail parallels US 63—also known as Sergeant...
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IA |
9.9 mi |
Asphalt
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The Shaulis Road Trail is a ten-foot wide concrete trail that runs along the side of Shaulis Road in the sparsely populated southern edge of Waterloo, IA. The trails runs over gentle, rolling hills,...
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IA |
5.59 mi |
Concrete
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The Shell Rock River Trail, also known as the Butler County Nature Trail, connects the eastern edge of Clarksville with the community of Shell Rock. The trail runs through open fields and at times...
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IA |
5.9 mi |
Asphalt
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South Skunk River is a tributary of the Mississippi River. In Ames, the Skunk River Trail brings residents closer to river and to nature. The shared use path sits on the shady west bank of South Skunk...
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IA |
4.1 mi |
Asphalt, Concrete
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The South Riverside Trail is one in a series of trail systems throughout Cedar Falls, Iowa. The trail runs between Main Street at the Cedar Falls Recreation Center and the Greenhill Trail just west of...
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IA |
3.5 mi |
Asphalt
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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...
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IA |
5.6 mi |
Crushed Stone, Dirt
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Named for the major project the city of Des Moines has undertaken to improve transportation and connectivity along the Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway in the southeastern section of downtown, the...
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IA |
3.09 mi |
Concrete
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Stange Road trail connects residents of the Somerset neighborhood in north Ames, to the Iowa State University campus that lies directly south of it. The shared use path sits on the west side of Stange...
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IA |
2.4 mi |
Asphalt
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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...
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IA |
12 mi |
Asphalt
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Notice: In 2019, the bridge over Beaver Creek in Johnston collapsed. Repairs on the bridge are expected to be completed in 2021. Repair schedule and updates can be found at the Polk County...
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IA |
3.7 mi |
Asphalt
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Black Hawk County’s Trolley Trail, also known as the Trolley Car Trail, runs for less than 2 miles in western Waterloo. The trail is the lone vestige of the Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Northern...
|
IA |
1.4 mi |
Asphalt, Dirt, Gravel
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Right in the heart of the campus of the University of Northern Iowa, the UNI Preserve Trail offers a shockingly scenic trek through prairie and woodland, giving students the opportunity to escape into...
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IA |
0.8 mi |
Asphalt, Concrete
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Constructed on the west side of the four-lane highway that gives it its name, the US 63 Trail offers a surprisingly pleasant means of traversing the busy corridor on foot or bike. While many sidepath...
|
IA |
0.8 mi |
Concrete
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Picking up from the end of the 1st Street Trail, the Union Road Trail continues the network of multi-use sidepath trails on the western edge of Cedar Falls, serving as the western section of a...
|
IA |
1.01 mi |
Concrete
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Installed in 2018 as part of a major overhaul of the adjacent roadway, the University Avenue Trail provides convenient access to destinations on the corridor that were previously impossible to reach...
|
IA |
3.1 mi |
Concrete
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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...
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IA |
12.5 mi |
Asphalt
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The Wolf Creek Trail begins in Gladbrook, a small city about 70 miles northeast of Des Moines. The trail was established in 2001 by volunteers from the Gladbrook community who secured the right-of-way...
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IA |
2.6 mi |
Asphalt, Crushed Stone
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