Explore the best rated trails in Carroll, IA. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Galloping Goose Trail (IA) and T-Bone Trail. With more than 19 trails covering 3961 miles you’re bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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The Sauk Rail Trail offers some of the best riding in rural, west-central Iowa. The paved 33-mile trail is capped at either end by a state park and offers a diverse mix of views and experiences in...
The T-Bone Trail stretches nearly 20 miles between Audubon and Pymosa township in western Iowa. The paved pathway follows a former railroad right-of-way and offers beautiful countryside views. On the...
Located in the small city of Holstein, in rural Ida County, Iowa, the Holstein Community Trail is a smooth, concrete trail for walking and biking that spans most of the southeastern edge of town. The...
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The Hiawatha Trail provides a convenient way to cross Perry's northeastern neighborhoods and provides a connection to Raccoon River Valley Trail, a scenic 89-mile rail-trail. The east end of the...
The Rock Island Old Stone Arch Nature Trail travels nearly 4 miles along an asphalt path atop a former railbed once owned by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad. Starting near an I-80 on-ramp,...
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...
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...
The Twin Lakes Trail forms a loop around North Twin Lake, one of a pair of gorgeous glacial lakes in rural northwestern Iowa. The concrete trail takes users through state and county parks, with ample...
The Pleasant Valley Trail is a network of paved, multi-use trail that runs for over four miles throughout the rural city of Ida Grove in western Iowa. Sections of the trail follow the Maple River,...
The Bull Creek Pathway is a short neighborhood path with a lot of use. The multi-use pathway runs parallel to Bull Creek and links Harl-Holt Park to Washington Elementary, Schuler Elementary and...
The Riverside Trail (or Riverside Park Trail) meanders alongside Middle Raccoon River. The trail begins on Velvet Avenue and 320th Street in Coon Rapids, Iowa and wanders into the riparian woodland on...
On the western outskirts of Des Moines, the Raccoon River Valley Trail offers a quintessential central Iowa experience. Over its 89-mile span, you’ll traverse woodlands, prairie and agricultural...
The Soldier Creek Nature Trail runs south from Snell-Crawford Park alongside residential neighborhoods in Fort Dodge. For most of its route, the trail is within just a few feet of Soldier Creek (hence...
Just north of the small Iowa city of Atlantic, a sprawling network of concrete multi-use trails have been built, enabling cyclists and pedestrians to safely explore the lovely natural landscape around...
This trail skirts the northern shore of Storm Lake, connecting the town of Lakeside in the west to the Emerald Park subdivision. The trail is made up of off-road concrete pathways and some on-road...
Running through a beautiful expanse of woods and fields just a short distance east of Denison, Iowa, the Wheels to Heels Trail offers residents and visitors to this western Iowa community an...
The Russell White Nature Trail runs for nearly 4 miles through a landscape of forest, pasture and prairie and links the tiny community of Lanesboro with open space to the southwest of the town. The...
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...
The Bull Creek Pathway is a short neighborhood path with a lot of use. The multi-use pathway runs parallel to Bull Creek and links Harl-Holt Park to Washington Elementary, Schuler Elementary and...
Just north of the small Iowa city of Atlantic, a sprawling network of concrete multi-use trails have been built, enabling cyclists and pedestrians to safely explore the lovely natural landscape around...
The Pleasant Valley Trail is a network of paved, multi-use trail that runs for over four miles throughout the rural city of Ida Grove in western Iowa. Sections of the trail follow the Maple River,...
The Sauk Rail Trail offers some of the best riding in rural, west-central Iowa. The paved 33-mile trail is capped at either end by a state park and offers a diverse mix of views and experiences in...
The Fort Dodge Nature Trail begins at the city's Snell-Crawford Park and runs northeast for nearly 3 miles. The trail travels adjacent to overhead power lines and crosses a couple of bridges over...
The Rock Island Old Stone Arch Nature Trail travels nearly 4 miles along an asphalt path atop a former railbed once owned by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad. Starting near an I-80 on-ramp,...
This trail skirts the northern shore of Storm Lake, connecting the town of Lakeside in the west to the Emerald Park subdivision. The trail is made up of off-road concrete pathways and some on-road...
Running through a beautiful expanse of woods and fields just a short distance east of Denison, Iowa, the Wheels to Heels Trail offers residents and visitors to this western Iowa community an...
The Twin Lakes Trail forms a loop around North Twin Lake, one of a pair of gorgeous glacial lakes in rural northwestern Iowa. The concrete trail takes users through state and county parks, with ample...
On the western outskirts of Des Moines, the Raccoon River Valley Trail offers a quintessential central Iowa experience. Over its 89-mile span, you’ll traverse woodlands, prairie and agricultural...
The Riverside Trail (or Riverside Park Trail) meanders alongside Middle Raccoon River. The trail begins on Velvet Avenue and 320th Street in Coon Rapids, Iowa and wanders into the riparian woodland on...
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...
The Hiawatha Trail provides a convenient way to cross Perry's northeastern neighborhoods and provides a connection to Raccoon River Valley Trail, a scenic 89-mile rail-trail. The east end of the...
The Soldier Creek Nature Trail runs south from Snell-Crawford Park alongside residential neighborhoods in Fort Dodge. For most of its route, the trail is within just a few feet of Soldier Creek (hence...
The T-Bone Trail stretches nearly 20 miles between Audubon and Pymosa township in western Iowa. The paved pathway follows a former railroad right-of-way and offers beautiful countryside views. On the...
_135458_sc.jpg)
The Galloping Goose Trail is so called for the nickname of the old railroad that once ran through the area and upon which the trail sits. As of 2012, about 0.5 mile of trail have been built northeast...
Located in the small city of Holstein, in rural Ida County, Iowa, the Holstein Community Trail is a smooth, concrete trail for walking and biking that spans most of the southeastern edge of town. The...
On the western outskirts of Des Moines, the Raccoon River Valley Trail offers a quintessential central Iowa experience. Over its 89-mile span, you’ll traverse woodlands, prairie and agricultural...
The Bull Creek Pathway is a short neighborhood path with a lot of use. The multi-use pathway runs parallel to Bull Creek and links Harl-Holt Park to Washington Elementary, Schuler Elementary and...
The Galloping Goose Trail is so called for the nickname of the old railroad that once ran through the area and upon which the trail sits. As of 2012, about 0.5 mile of trail have been built northeast...
The Rock Island Old Stone Arch Nature Trail travels nearly 4 miles along an asphalt path atop a former railbed once owned by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad. Starting near an I-80 on-ramp,...
The Twin Lakes Trail forms a loop around North Twin Lake, one of a pair of gorgeous glacial lakes in rural northwestern Iowa. The concrete trail takes users through state and county parks, with ample...
The Russell White Nature Trail runs for nearly 4 miles through a landscape of forest, pasture and prairie and links the tiny community of Lanesboro with open space to the southwest of the town. The...
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...
Just north of the small Iowa city of Atlantic, a sprawling network of concrete multi-use trails have been built, enabling cyclists and pedestrians to safely explore the lovely natural landscape around...
Running through a beautiful expanse of woods and fields just a short distance east of Denison, Iowa, the Wheels to Heels Trail offers residents and visitors to this western Iowa community an...
The Pleasant Valley Trail is a network of paved, multi-use trail that runs for over four miles throughout the rural city of Ida Grove in western Iowa. Sections of the trail follow the Maple River,...
The Sauk Rail Trail offers some of the best riding in rural, west-central Iowa. The paved 33-mile trail is capped at either end by a state park and offers a diverse mix of views and experiences in...
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...
Located in the small city of Holstein, in rural Ida County, Iowa, the Holstein Community Trail is a smooth, concrete trail for walking and biking that spans most of the southeastern edge of town. The...
The T-Bone Trail stretches nearly 20 miles between Audubon and Pymosa township in western Iowa. The paved pathway follows a former railroad right-of-way and offers beautiful countryside views. On the...
The Soldier Creek Nature Trail runs south from Snell-Crawford Park alongside residential neighborhoods in Fort Dodge. For most of its route, the trail is within just a few feet of Soldier Creek (hence...
The Riverside Trail (or Riverside Park Trail) meanders alongside Middle Raccoon River. The trail begins on Velvet Avenue and 320th Street in Coon Rapids, Iowa and wanders into the riparian woodland on...
The Fort Dodge Nature Trail begins at the city's Snell-Crawford Park and runs northeast for nearly 3 miles. The trail travels adjacent to overhead power lines and crosses a couple of bridges over...
The Hiawatha Trail provides a convenient way to cross Perry's northeastern neighborhoods and provides a connection to Raccoon River Valley Trail, a scenic 89-mile rail-trail. The east end of the...
This trail skirts the northern shore of Storm Lake, connecting the town of Lakeside in the west to the Emerald Park subdivision. The trail is made up of off-road concrete pathways and some on-road...
Grade the trail! This review serves as a guide so that you know what condition the trail is in before you go. Here are the ratings:
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.
The hot western IA summer sun wreaks havoc on this mostly asphalt trail. LOTS of ruts. There is a 3 mile (approx) section north of Exira that is concrete. On the basis of trail surface alone, that section would get a (B) rating. A substantial portion of this trail (1/3 to 1/2?) runs amongst the trees. They do not blow the sticks off of the trail. When they mow the grass along the trail, they do not blow it off. Be aware of the bridge abutments, most all are very rough - some have a 2 inch bump. The gravel road crossings are not paved, which is to be expected on a rural trail. In addition, there are 3 short sections where you will be riding on gravel. One in particular to watch out for is near the I-80 interchange where the asphalt trail in completely covered with gravel. This would be an awesome rail-trail if it were repaired and maintained!
Overall rating: C/D
Feel free to copy this format and grade other trails as desired.
On 21 April, Mel n I rode our Pacific Tandem from Madrid to Woodward and back, then from Madrid to the stream with the black chain link fence and back for a total of about 20 miles. Of course we were totally blown away by the 2500+ Ft-long bridge! What a beautiful site to ride our tandem right through those continuous iron squares that appear to keep twisting and turning as you approach them! We loved this trail because it has only gradual grade changes that are barely noticeable 🤠. We look forward to riding this same trail section the next time we come to visit!
Had a very nice ride from one end to the other. This is a beautiful time of the year to ride and enjoy this trail. Its a winner. Kind cool they have several waypoint along the trail with tools and tire pump. Very nice
Beautiful trail to ride right next to the lake and through parks. Most of the trail is on the sidewalk, but some is on a bike lane in the street (low traffic).
We look for trail segments where we can ride 6-10 miles, then find a meal, then return to our car. The Breda-Carnarvon segment on the Sauk Rail Trail is one such ride. We parked our car on a shady street near the fairgrounds park in Breda. (Breda has at least one store where you can buy provisions) Got on the paved trail and rode 7 miles to Carnarvon, a segment with gentle grades and the bridge approaches are good. Just to the west of the trail in Carnarvon is a bar/cafe, that happened to have a lunch buffet on the day we were there. Its a great trail with well maintained right-of-way. An alternative would have been to ride to Carroll, eat, and return. Or if we had been more ambitious, to ride to Lake City and back. We'll do those rides next time.
Our family (dad, mom, and 2 kids -- 5 and 8) love to go on bicycle rides on trails in the central part of the country. We have ridden on trails in Kansas, Missouri (our home state), Nebraska and Iowa. Of all the places where we ride (usually "day trips" from our home in northwestern Missouri), the trails in Iowa are our absolute favorite. We are frequent visitors to the High Trestle Trail, and decided to "switch it up" one afternoon (Aug 8, 2021) and try out a trail that we hadn't been on before. We selected the Raccoon River Valley Trail.
With the kids in tow, we don't ride the entire trail. Instead, we usually go out 4 or 5 miles, and then return. We put in at the trailhead in Adel, IA, and headed east about 4 miles before turning around because the kids were getting tired (the furthest they have ridden is about 12 miles total on a ride). Having been on the High Trestle Trail many times, the kids **love** going over the bridges. We weren't disappointed going over the bridge 1 mile east of the Adel trailhead, which goes over the Raccoon River.
The condition of the portion of the trail we rode was just OK. That portion of the trail is paved with asphalt, and there are some dubious patch jobs along the portion of the trail that we rode. I was eager to ride my newly-re-cabled road bike, and the trail was mostly smooth enough for that. But, you better look ahead and pick your path well, because some of those hack patch jobs are pretty rough. Still, it isn't bad enough to detract any stars from what we thought is an outstanding trail.
We paid the daily fee for 2 adults (kids ride free), which helps fund maintenance for the trail. We are definitely not against paying the small fee ($2 per adult per day ... we just put a fiver in the envelope) to help fund the maintenance and upkeep on high quality trails.
After the ride, we stopped at Brickyard Burgers and Brews (1802 Greene St, Adel, Iowa 50003 ... https://adelbrickyard.com/ ... copy the URL and paste it into a new browser tab), which is RIGHT AT the Adel, IA trailhead. They have awesome wood-fired oven baked pizzas, and they were (as my daughter says) DELICIOSO! Out of two large pizzas, we went home with only three pieces remaining ... and the kids split one of those (the only remaining piece from their pizza) on the way home in the truck!
Of the four states we have ridden trails on, the trails in Iowa are our favorite. While most trails are "paved" with chipped gravel, the majority of the trails we've been on in Iowa are paved in either concrete or asphalt. It is a much more enjoyable ride. It may cost a bit more initially, but we can only imagine that it also has lower maintenance costs, since we've witnessed the chipped gravel trails often having "ruts" from people riding after a rain. There is no such issue on the concrete and asphalt paved trails that we've been on. And, by offering a smoother ride, it's not hard to imagine that more people will take advantage of what the trails have to offer, increasing traffic to the towns located along the truly paved trails. I tend to not take my road bike on the chipped gravel trails, fearful of a crash from hitting some loose gravel that will cause me or my bike (or both) serious injury. The fact that I can ride my road bike on these trails is a real plus, and one that I go out of my way to ride on.
All any other state has to do to figure out how to do trails "RIGHT" is look to how Iowa has created their trail system. Keep up the excellent work on the trails, Iowa! You've done it up right!
We rode the whole trail. A 50 mile round trip, mostly concrete and some asphalt. Flat and smooth. The bridge is worth the ride. Ate lunch in Woodward at the whistling donkey.
Great trail / riding conditions. A few stretches between towns that have not been upgraded but overall a great ride. A couple stretches need shoulder improvements.....if you veer off the trail you're in trouble due to a 4" drop into class 5 rock and then into the woods (the only reason I deduct a rating star). Get this fixed, the trail deserves 5 stars!
I did the loop starting in Perry. I liked that there are several little towns for rest and nutrition stops. Other riders were courteous and friendly although some could turn down the tunes....hard to enjoy the peacefulness when AC/DC is blaring throughout the woods.
Walked the first section of the trail with our dog. Met a few bikes, a runner and a couple of walkers. Pleasant, well-maintained. Crossed three low railroad bridges; saw 2 deer in the creek below. Lovely place to spend a few hours.
Visiting parents in Atlantic, my dad was part of trail development in the area, Dick Hensley. Road his touring bike that he rode on 16 RAGBRAIs and the bike ride across the US to celebrate Iowa sesquicentennial years ago. Beautiful trail with lots of catbirds and other native songbirds, butterflies and plant life. Definitely worth the ride. Live in TX but will be back, down the road. Thanks dad. It’s an honor to ride your bike.
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