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The Chautauqua Park Trail is a short, paved trail that travels along the wooded shore of the Missouri River from Chautauqua Park, a 46-acre recreation site located near the Singing Hills area of Sioux City. The trail gives cyclists and pedestrians the chance to disappear a bit into nature along the riverfront; in spite of the busy interstate that parallels the trail to the east, the trail still manages to provide some scenic beauty thanks to the lovely views of the river and the Nebraska farmland on the western bank. The southern portion of the trail parallels a set of railroad tracks that once belonged to the historic Chicago and North Western Railway, providing trail users a chance to reflect on the role that the adjacent river and railroad played in the development of the area.
Sioux City is working on plans to connect the Chautauqua Park Trail with the Sioux City Riverfront Trail to the north, which is part of a larger planned trail route that the state of Iowa is working on, called the Lewis & Clark Multiuse Trail, which would allow trail users to follow multi-use paths and designated low-stress roads all the way to the Missouri border. For now, the Chautauqua Park Trail comes to a bit of an abrupt end just south of a railroad bridge over the river, making this a purely out-and-back route for the time being. Its isolated nature, however, does help to make it an ideal recreation route - for those joggers or dog-walkers looking for a neat hidden-gem, the Chautauqua Park Trail is a great option.
Parking and restrooms are available at Chautauqua Park, located at 3755 Harbor Drive in Sioux City. The park is easily reached from exit 143 off of Interstate 29 - head west on Patton Street/Industrial Road and turn right onto Harbor Drive.
Beautiful fall day on this trail today! Although it isn’t finished on the north end, it is wide, clean, and easy to find for a nature walk.
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