61. SUMMERSET TRAIL
City: Des Moines, IA
Category: Parks & Recreation
Description: Beginning in the town of Carlisle, south of Des Moines this trail, overseen by the Warren County Conservation Board, moves past a rural stretch of fields home to numerous species of birds, with a wide variety of flowers and plant life growing along the trail. Once you get past a small residential subdivision by the trailhead, you are largely surrounded by wide-open country. The trail runs 12 miles to Indianola, passing through Summerset State Park and Banner Lakes along the way.
62. TRESTLE TO TRESTLE TRAIL
City: Des Moines, IA
Category: Parks & Recreation
Description: This trail, which hooks onto paths running north from downtown, is a nice escape from the bustle and traffic of the city. The trail runs near the Des Moines River, as well as past boggy lowlands and marshy ponds decorated with cattail and lily pads, which are also good places to spot birds and wildlife. Queen Anne’s lace, goldenrod, and horsemint bloom alongside the paved path. The rails-to-trail conversion heads past the northern city limits and eventually crosses the Trestle Bridge in Johnston, where it hooks onto the trails in that suburb.
63. RACCOON RIVER VALLEY TRAIL
City: Des Moines, IA
Category: Parks & Recreation
Description: Beginning at a picturesque old train depot in Redfield, this stretch of a very long trail popular with cyclists takes a long, winding course past farm fields and Iowa country towns (the entire trail begins on the outskirts of Des Moines and runs 56 miles west-northwest to the rural community of Jefferson in central Iowa). If you can do 9 miles on the trail heading east from Redfield, you’ll come to the historic courthouse town of Adel.
64. CLIVE GREENBELT TRAIL
City: Des Moines, IA
Category: Parks & Recreation
Description: Continuing along Walnut Creek from its starting point northwest of the intersection of 86th Street and University Avenue in Clive, this Clive city trail follows a paved path, which eventually runs by a replanted prairie containing more than 20 varieties of native grasses. Eventually this trail hooks onto the eastern end of the Raccoon River Valley Trail, which runs for many miles into the countryside.
65. WALNUT CREEK TRAIL
City: Des Moines, IA
Category: Parks & Recreation
Description: This trail actually splits into two a short distance south of its trailhead by Ashworth Pool in Greenwood/Ashworth Park, with one paved path running east toward Gray’s Lake and downtown, and the other taking a more wilderness route along Walnut Creek. Lots of wildlife flit through the woods that hem in the trail, including raccoon, beaver, and deer. The path crosses a few roads in between stretches of woods and also passes an old railroad bridge shortly before it hooks up with the Clive Greenbelt Trail.