A long-anticipated connection between the Raccoon River Valley and High Trestle trails in central Iowa opens on Saturday.
Stretching nine miles from Perry to Woodward, this segment creates a nearly continuous 120-mile paved loop for bikers, runners and walkers, making it one of the longest in the U.S. It also connects to the Raccoon River Valley Trail's 72-mile loop.
Andrea Boulton is the trails and community conservation director for the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, which has been working on rails-to-trails projects in the state for over 40 years.
"There’s so much excitement to see this project finally come to fruition. I think the community has been waiting for this since before the High Trestle Trail was even completed,” Boulton said.
That was more than a decade ago.
Building the connector trail faced some unique challenges, in large part because the former railroad right-of-way between Perry and Woodward had been abandoned and reverted to adjacent property owners.
"This particular trail required lots of conversations with landowners to inform them of the project, answer questions and secure the link between the two trails,” Boulton said.
Curt Cable, director of the Dallas County Conservation Board, said the project cost $5.8 million. Local, state and federal grants covered $4 million and the rest came from private donations and Dallas County funds.
Phased construction, which began in 2018, allowed segments of the trail to be built as funding became available.
Economic impacts
Boulton said developing long-distance, destination trails helped create the bike culture Iowa has today. She said people don’t need to travel out of the state to have "an exhilarating experience” outdoors.
"As they’re doing that, they’re discovering new places, new restaurants, new stores, new parks and places that they’ve never been to before. And they’re realizing they can make a whole vacation out of it,” Boulton said.
A 2012 study released by the Iowa Bicycle Coalition and University of Northern Iowa found cyclists and trails generate an estimated $364.8 million in direct and indirect economic impacts on the state.
The coalition recently partnered with the Raccoon River Valley Trail Association and Rails to Trails Conservancy to conduct a new statewide Economic Impact of Cycling and Trails study. This includes a survey administered by a private firm.
Cable said the north loop trail expansion of the Raccoon River Valley Trail in 2012 "opened up significant opportunities for growth in small towns that depended on the railroad for economic stability. The bike trail now serves a similar purpose,” he said.
Among the findings from a 2016 economic impact survey conducted by Iowa State University for the Dallas County Conservation Board:
- Over 60% of trail users spend anywhere from $6-$20 each time they visit the Raccoon River Valley Trail.
- Dallas Center generated between $76,896 and $98,704 during the summer of 2016.
Cable said the new bike trail will be the economic engine of Bouton, a town with fewer than 200 residents.
To celebrate its opening Saturday, Luke Hoffman of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition will lead a bike ride that starts at the trailhead in Perry at 11 a.m. Bouton will host a ribbon cutting ceremony around 1 p.m.
A long-term vision
Boulton said there are more trails to come in central Iowa and other parts of the state. The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation is working to connect Lake Red Rock and Saylorville Lake, as well as Eldora/Pine Lake State Park to Marshalltown along the Iowa River.
“We're not done yet as a state. We've got a very big vision,” Boulton said.
That vision also involves completing the Iowa segment of the Great American Rail-Trail. Stretching more than 3,700 miles, the paved trail would connect Washington, D.C., to the State of Washington.
This story was updated on Aug. 12, 2024 at 10:35 a.m. A previous version referred to Curt Cable by the incorrect name.
