Grant Wood Trail
to have Grand Opening

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NOTE: The following release was written and distributed by the Grant Wood Trail Association.

This article was written and posted on INHF's website in October 2002.

It is with great excitement that I wish to announce the upcoming Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the first surfaced section of the Grant Wood Trail in Jones County.

The Jones County Grant Wood Trail Board, County Conservation Board, Olin officials, and other persons and groups, such as the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, who have made this trail a possibility have been invited to cut the ribbon on the first finished section of the Grant Wood Trail in a ribbon cutting ceremony at 2pm on Nov. 2nd. Following the ceremony, there will be cookies and doughnuts, coffee and other refreshments provided by the Olin Bank and the Grant Wood Trail Association.

After the ceremony, the public will be invited to be the first to use this 2.3-mile section of the Grant Wood Trail. It runs from its intersection with Olin’s Resident Street west along the old Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Line for 2.3 miles until its intersection with Jones County Road E-45. The trail has been built saving as many of the adjacent trees as possible. Travelers on the trail will view many “gothic arches” of trees overhanging the trail, yet be able to see out into the beautiful Grant Wood style farmlands beyond. Grant Wood himself was born and spent the first ten years of his life just a few short miles from the trail, and visitors will immediately see the beauty that Wood fell in love with and depicted in many of his paintings. Lee Johnson and Pelling Const. Co. has done the work.

The trail has recently been surfaced with recycled asphalt through donations, fundraisers, and monies received through an Iowa Federal Trails Grant. It is the first finished section of trail in Jones County and will eventually run from Olin, Iowa west to Martelle, Iowa. There, it will connect with the Linn County Trail Association’s part of the Grant Wood Trail, and run on west to the Cedar Rapids/Marion area. In Cedar Rapids, the trail will eventually connect with the Cedar Valley Trail coming from the Cedar Falls/Waterloo area, and the Hoover Trail, which travels south to the Quad Cities. When the Olin to Martelle section of the Jones County Grant Wood Trail is finished, the trail will hopefully be extended on east To Oxford Junction, and, eventually, on to the Mississippi to connect with recreational trails in Illinois.

As this section of trail is finished, work is already beginning on connecting the trail west to Muskrat Slough, an ancient glacial lake basin, and finishing a half-mile section of the trail at Martelle. This alone will need to have $50,000 in matching funds raised. If anyone wants to donate to this exciting project, or do volunteer work, please contact us at the above address, or, PO Box 103, Monticello, Iowa.

The Jones County Grant Wood Trail Association has been working eleven years on the trail project, but has been together as a group doing environmental educational projects for 32 years. Other activities include 10 years of sponsoring environmental education outdoor weekends for high school students, and eleven years sponsoring the Jones County Conservation Fair.

When finished, the Jones County Conservation Board will maintain the Grant Wood Trail in Jones County. The Grant Wood Trail Association will help with the maintenance and fundraising.

Thank you for your support of the Grant Wood Trail.

Sincerely, Joy Adams

President of the Board, Grant Wood Trail Association

For more information about INHF news, e-mail Cathy Engstrom, Director of Communications, or call (515) 288-1846.