Proposed 4,000 mile bike trail will cut through Iowa (Cedar Rapids, Waterloo: trees, area)

[smpliving]

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Cedar Valley Nature Trail, which passes through Cedar Rapids, Waterloo and Cedar Falls, would be one of 12 gateway trails that would anchor a proposed 4,000-mile national bike trail, spurring excitement from local leaders.


The Washington, D.C.-based Rails-to-Trails Conservancy announced earlier this year the vision for an east-west bike trail and “an unprecedented commitment to creating an iconic piece of American infrastructure.”

Cedar Rapids is also expected to be a stop of the American Discovery Trail, another cross-country bike trail. While there would be some overlap in the Midwest, the biggest difference is the Great American Rail-Trail is aiming to be “100 percent off-street” and multiuse for bikers and walkers across the country, said Kevin Belanger, a trail planner for Rails-to-Trails.


Nationally, the Great American Rail-Trail would extend through 12 states and the District of Columbia, traveling through Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland before reaching Washington, D.C.


https://www.thegazette.com/subject/n...trail-20190305

[fezzador]

I would have thought that the High Trestle Trail would have been part of this. Maybe it is, but it's weird to see no mention of it.

[mofford]

From the map in the link, looks like the new trail will dip into SW Iowa and connect with Nebraska just south of Omaha. I think this is a good route, as it offers some rolling landscapes not found in most other parts of the state. Nothing against the high trestle trail, but other than the bridge, the landscapes are flat and there are not many trees to protect you from the sun and wind. They need to not cheap out when they build this cross country trail. That means not running it alongside highways, or hundreds of miles thru open flat fields. It needs to run along rivers, lakes and rolling land, and graded so it's not too steep to climb, with some curves so you don't have 20 mile long stretches that are straight as an arrow and boring. If they are going to build it, build it right so people come away with a great experience.

Will be nice as the decades pass, to add branches to other parts of the country. Like NE Iowa and the Wisconsin Dells region, a branch that goes up to the sand hills of Nebraska and connects with the badlands and Mt. Rushmore area of South Dakota, and a south branch that connects with the Ozarks and other points to the south, perhaps a New England branch thru the appalachians down to Georgia and Florida.