Iowa Trail Resources

 

Iowa Agencies

 

For information on the 600 miles of trails and bicycle routes in Iowa's state parks: www.iowadnr.com/parks/

The Mississippi River Project, US Army Corps of Engineers, includes trails, camping and recreational opportunities along the River: www.missriver.org

National Wildlife Refuge System, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, provides trails as well as hunting, fishing, wildlife observation; see refuges in Iowa: http://www.fws.gov/refuges/refugeLocatorMaps/Iowa.html

National Park Service units in Iowa

 

 

Iowa National Recreation Trails

 

Find all National Recreation Trails in Iowa: select Iowa from the State Search list and click on "Find Trails"
Visit Iowa's "Featured" National Recreational Trails for the most recently designated trail(s)
Visit the National Recreation Trails website to learn more about the NRT program and access over 1,050 NRTs from across the country

Iowa Bicycling and Mountain Biking

 

Bike rides on Iowa roads and paved pathways from road biking books at Trails.com:

• Road Bike Rides in Iowa

The 2005 version of the Iowa Transportation Map for Bicyclists is now available.

BIKEIOWA.com has a list of nearly 40 trails across Iowa with contact information: http://www.bikeiowa.com/asp/trails/trails.asp

Iowa City Off-Road Riders is a mountain bike club in Iowa City that designed, built, and maintains mountain bike trails in the Sugar Bottom Recreational Area: www.icorrmtb.org

Bike World Iowa has a variety of bike-related information: www.bikeworldiowa.com/

Mississippi River Trail is a 10-state cycling route planned from the headwaters of the Mississippi in Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico: www.mississippirivertrail.org

RAGBRAI is the "Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa," one of the oldest and largest cross-state bike events in America: www.ragbrai.org/

Lake Country Cyclists has sponsors events including trail rides: www.lakecountycyclists.com

Iowa Equestrian Trails

 

Iowa Horse Council has information on trails, events, and contacts: www.iowahorsecouncil.org/

 

Iowa Greenways and Community Trails

 

Buchanan County and Independence, Iowa have trails and walking tours: www.buchanancountyhistory.com/walkinghikingcycling.php

Flint River Trail is part of the Great River Gateway Vision Iowa project om Burlington and Des Moines County: www.seirpc.com/Trails/Home.html

Greater Des Moines Recreational Trails provides online maps of 300 miles of existing trails and parks: www.ci.des-moines.ia.us/departments/PR/trails.htm

Jefferson County Trails System includes 33 miles in the Fairfield, IA area: www.jeffersoncountytrails.org/

Smith's Island Nature Trail is a National Recreation Trail located near Pleasant Valley: www.mvr.usace.army.mil/missriver

Information on the Story County Trail System is at: www.public.iastate.edu/~wwilke/storytr.html

Iowa Hiking Trails

 

Hiking trail maps, hike descriptions, and Iowa topographic maps at Trails.com:

• Hiking Trails in Iowa

American Volkssport Association year-round walking and Volkssport Event Calendar

Iowa Long-Distance Trails

 

For information on the coast-to-coast American Discovery Trail in Iowa: www.discoverytrail.org/states/iowa/index.html

Iowa Mormon Trails Association: http://omaha.adamhaeder.com/trails/imta.htm

Iowa Off-Highway Vehicle Trails

 

Iowa Off-Highway Vehicle Associationhas riding area maps, events, and club contacts: www.iowaohv.com/

River Valley Trail Riders Club is building the 350 acre State sponsored River Valley OHV park in southwest Council Bluffs: www.rivervalleytrailriders.com/

Iowa Rail Trails and Canal Trails

 

Cedar Valley Nature Trail is a 52-mile linear trail running from Hiawatha to Evansdale: www.cedarfallstourism.org/trails.asp

Praeri Rail Trail is a 10.5-mile corridor that runs from Roland through McCallsburg to Highway 65 west of Zearing: www.storycounty.com/+index.aspx?dn=401,390,15,6,1,documents and www.zearing.net/praeritrail.asp

Raccoon River Valley Trail is a 56-mile-long paved trail along the branches of the Raccoon River through Greene, Guthrie and Dallas Counties west of Des Moines: http://raccoonrivervalleytrail.org/

Rolling Prairie Tri-County Trail System is a network planned for North Central and Northeast Iowa: www.butler-bremer.com/web/rollingprairietrail/

Sauk Rail Trail is a 33-mile multi-use trail that connect two state parks, running from Lake View near Blackhawk Lake State Park and ending in Swan Lake State Park south of Carroll: www.saccounty.org/conservation/saukrailtrail.asp

Wabash Trace Nature Trail runs 60 miles through southwest Iowa from Council Bluffs to Blanchard: www.WabashTrace.org

Iowa Snow