Great Western Bike Trail of Central Iowa

The Great Western Bike Trail is a bike trail that takes riders from Water Works Park in Des Moines, Iowa to rural Martensdale over 16 miles away. The official name is the Great Western/Bill Riley Trail, and it is maintained by the Polk County Conservation Board, and the Warren County Conservation Board.

The Ride

Riders will start in the Ashworth Pool parking lot, in downtown Des Moines. After a short ride through trees the trail will merge into the Great Western Trail. Riders will then cross a busy street, and after riding through trees, an airport landing strip light, and the first mile marker, they will arrive near Des Moines International Airport. The scenery won't change much as riders cross a small bridge and another road, but soon they'll be in a lush grassy meadow for a long while, until they enter a thicket of trees farther up the path. Eventually they will pass under Highway 28 and Army Post Road, which leads into a peaceful golf course. After the golf course they will be in rural areas for a while, until passing through Orilla, which is just north of Norwalk, home to Brandon Routh, the star of "Superman Returns". Cumming is not too far ahead. After Cumming, the trail will pass through countryside and over the Middle River for over eight miles to Martensdale, where the trail ends.

Sights

The Great Western Trail is popular with most central Iowans, including Boy Scout troops, businessmen, and many others. The trail used to be a railroad and there are occasional railroad mile markers on the trail, one near Orilla, and the other near Cumming. There are a wide variety of plants on the trail as well.

External links

* [http://www.iowatourism.com/trails.html Iowa Tourism-Trails]
* [http://www.warrenccb.org/areas/gwt/gwt.html Warren County Conservation Board-Great Western Trail]