Trail Tuesday: Cedar Valley Nature Trail
By Taylor on October 7, 2014 in Blog
Every Tuesday, look for a new featured trail story on our blog – part of our new “Trail Tuesday” series. This will be a way for you to learn about all the different trails we have to offer on our Iowa By Trail app. If you like what you read you can download the app and go explore! For any questions on these trails, email ibt@inhf.org.
This week’s highlighted trail is the Cedar Valley Nature Trail.
This 52-mile linear park follows a route through the Cedar River bottomlands, along forested banks of the river and across fields where stands of trees are punctuated by open vistas. The trail is asphalt at the ends with crushed limestone in the middle.
This trail passes through the following cities:
- Evansdale
- Gilbertville
- La Porte City
- Brandon
- Urbana
- Center Point
- Lafayette
- Hiawatha
Cedar Valley Nature Trail is an excellent place to observe wildflowers and abundant wildlife. Deer, woodchucks, wild turkey and songbirds are among the creatures sighted along the trail. The northern part of the trail (about 25 miles) is a designated Important Bird Area, where various birds have been sighted. The northern stretch of the trail also includes pocket prairies or areas of native remnant prairies.
Hours year-round: 6 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. in Black Hawk and Buchanan counties; 4 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. in Linn and Benton counties.
Fast Five (points of interest):
- Brickside Cafe: Brick oven pizza and deli sandwiches.
- Exchange Park: Park Amenities: Play Equipment, Picnic Shelters, Water Fountains, Picnic Table, Restroom, Open Play Area, League Diamonds, Basketball Courts, Sand Volleyball, Disc Golf, Boat Ramps, Skatepark, Riverfront Stadium
- Galaxy 16 Cinema: Movie Theater
- Papa’s: Sports Bar
- La Porte City Golf Club: 9 hole golf course
