Find the top rated cross country skiing trails in Mason City, whether you're looking for an easy short cross country skiing trail or a long cross country skiing trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a cross country skiing trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
The Winnebago Trail provides the residents of Mason City with a safe, off-road link to nature, winding 3.7 miles from East Park and through residential areas to the Lime Creek Nature Center as it...
The Waverly Rail Trail offers a pleasant, small town–meets-rural experience as it travels for 7.6 miles from downtown Waverly to its eastern endpoint north of Denver. It is also part of the Rolling...
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 best place to begin the Trolley Trail is in Mason City in Ray Rorick Skate Park, located adjacent to the 81-acre Lester Milligan Park, which has two fishing and swimming ponds, hiking and biking...
The Charley Western Recreational Trailway provides a useful off-road route around the outer limits of Charles City. Built on the site of the former Charles City Western Railway, the trail runs along...
Charles City's Riverside Trail runs for a little over a mile along the banks of the Cedar River, providing gorgeous views and recreational opportunities, as well as access to several city...
The Wapsi–Great Western Line Trail is a 27-mile pathway on the former Chicago Great Western Railroad. The trail passes through a plethora of backdrops, including wide, rolling landscapes, Iowa...
The Harry Cook Nature Trail runs for 2 miles from the edge of the small city of Osage, Iowa to the city's public Spring Park. The trail, which opened in the early 1990s, occupies the bed of an...
Shooting Star State Trail, currently 19 miles long, is an 8-foot-wide asphalt path from LeRoy (east) to Rose Creek (west). It follows an unused railroad bed on Milwaukee Road, which once stretched...
The Blazing Star State Trail is located in Albert Lea, near Minnesota’s southern border. The town is known as “The Land Between the Lakes,” and the trail begins on the northern shore of one of the...
Shooting Star State Trail, currently 19 miles long, is an 8-foot-wide asphalt path from LeRoy (east) to Rose Creek (west). It follows an unused railroad bed on Milwaukee Road, which once stretched...
Charles City's Riverside Trail runs for a little over a mile along the banks of the Cedar River, providing gorgeous views and recreational opportunities, as well as access to several city...
The Waverly Rail Trail offers a pleasant, small town–meets-rural experience as it travels for 7.6 miles from downtown Waverly to its eastern endpoint north of Denver. It is also part of the Rolling...
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 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...
The Blazing Star State Trail is located in Albert Lea, near Minnesota’s southern border. The town is known as “The Land Between the Lakes,” and the trail begins on the northern shore of one of the...
The Wapsi–Great Western Line Trail is a 27-mile pathway on the former Chicago Great Western Railroad. The trail passes through a plethora of backdrops, including wide, rolling landscapes, Iowa...
The Harry Cook Nature Trail runs for 2 miles from the edge of the small city of Osage, Iowa to the city's public Spring Park. The trail, which opened in the early 1990s, occupies the bed of an...
The best place to begin the Trolley Trail is in Mason City in Ray Rorick Skate Park, located adjacent to the 81-acre Lester Milligan Park, which has two fishing and swimming ponds, hiking and biking...
The Winnebago Trail provides the residents of Mason City with a safe, off-road link to nature, winding 3.7 miles from East Park and through residential areas to the Lime Creek Nature Center as it...
The Charley Western Recreational Trailway provides a useful off-road route around the outer limits of Charles City. Built on the site of the former Charles City Western Railway, the trail runs along...
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...
Shooting Star State Trail, currently 19 miles long, is an 8-foot-wide asphalt path from LeRoy (east) to Rose Creek (west). It follows an unused railroad bed on Milwaukee Road, which once stretched...
The Charley Western Recreational Trailway provides a useful off-road route around the outer limits of Charles City. Built on the site of the former Charles City Western Railway, the trail runs along...
Charles City's Riverside Trail runs for a little over a mile along the banks of the Cedar River, providing gorgeous views and recreational opportunities, as well as access to several city...
The Winnebago Trail provides the residents of Mason City with a safe, off-road link to nature, winding 3.7 miles from East Park and through residential areas to the Lime Creek Nature Center as it...
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...
The best place to begin the Trolley Trail is in Mason City in Ray Rorick Skate Park, located adjacent to the 81-acre Lester Milligan Park, which has two fishing and swimming ponds, hiking and biking...
The Blazing Star State Trail is located in Albert Lea, near Minnesota’s southern border. The town is known as “The Land Between the Lakes,” and the trail begins on the northern shore of one of the...
The Waverly Rail Trail offers a pleasant, small town–meets-rural experience as it travels for 7.6 miles from downtown Waverly to its eastern endpoint north of Denver. It is also part of the Rolling...
The Wapsi–Great Western Line Trail is a 27-mile pathway on the former Chicago Great Western Railroad. The trail passes through a plethora of backdrops, including wide, rolling landscapes, Iowa...
The Harry Cook Nature Trail runs for 2 miles from the edge of the small city of Osage, Iowa to the city's public Spring Park. The trail, which opened in the early 1990s, occupies the bed of an...
Grade the trail! This review serves as a guide so that you know what condition the trail is in before you go. Here is the code:
A – Excellent condition, new or like-new.
B – Very good condition, not new, but still a great trail.
C – Fair condition, starting to see a fair amount of ruts, bumps or heaves.
D – Poor condition, lots of ruts, bumps or heaves.
F – Very poor condition, would not recommend riding this trail at all.
From Leroy to Taopi = D/F – in need of lots of repairs. From Taopi to Rose Creek = B. I have not ridden the section from Rose Creek to Nicolville, but would assume it is fairly new like the section from Taopi to Rose Creek.
Overall rating of 3 stars because of the bad section.
Trail is really great but could definitely use some more gravel in certain areas where the path is shaded and it doesn't get as much sun the sand can suck all the energy out of you. Of course that could just be in the Winter months.
We only walked a bit of the trail, but saw no one on it the whole 30-45 min we were on it.
Awesome biking trail! Very smooth packed gravel trail. Restrooms and air stations available in some areas. Plan full day and bring water/energy bars.
This trail needs a bit more love. A lot of cracks. And gritty parts when your out in the open due to weathering. Head wind is a thing to be aware of on this trail it is very exposed the further you get in.
Rode Norh from Riceville to end of paved trail ~10 miles. In McIntire watch for signs on the back of street signs to navigate through town and checkout Goosey's bar an grill if you are hungry. Saw Amish horses and farms.
This trail is nicely paved with asphalt. It was expanded in 2019 for .6 miles to the northeast and .6 miles to the southeast, now making it 3.0 miles long. There are sunny areas and shady areas. It is bike, walker, jogger and wheelchair friendly. The trail features a Story Walk along with a Little Free Library. There are all kinds of parks and activities nearby: disk golf, swimming, tennis, skateboard facility, playgrounds, picnic spots, and brand new in 2020, a pickleball court. If you are hungry, you can find hamburgers, pizza, sub sandwiches, Mexican food and ice cream in Belmond. A nice system of sidewalks connect the trail to the whole town.
I returned to this trail this year. However I started in Elma and rode to the Minnesota border. They are putting up more signage on the trail. There was water covering a portion on the north branch, north of McIntyre on the trail. It was shallow enough to ride through. A lot of different scenery on the trail.
It’s a pretty nice rides. Some of the asphalt has holes and cracks in it but just watch where you ride. Trail is mainly covered by trees so very shady.
Nice paved trail. Good trailhead facilities. Depot that serves pizza next to trail. Nestle Quik rabbit and mug statues a treat for the kids. Lots of trees for shade. Well signed at intersection w/ Readlyn trail. Big wide bridge in town. Does it really get any better than this?
Rode two sections - Riceville to a little past Mcintire and Elma northward. Riceville north is a real treat, especially the curves and boardwalk. We "lost" the trail in Mcintire but for a 12 block town, getting "lost" is not easy... We found the trail after seeing the small trail signs on lampposts. North of Mcintire, we found Amish folks walking the trail. At the wildlife refuge, the water was overflowing the trail/road (due to recent rains) so we turned back. On the way back, in the marsh area, we surprised a fox which in turn had just raided a Canada goose nest and was slurping down goose egg yolks as we rode past. Don't see that too often. The Elma section is arrow straight although we started at the Laylah Marsh which is quite pretty and well maintained and has an access next to the trail.
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