This map shows the proposed location of the JewEllsworth Trail, and how it would connect for existing and future trails. Red indicates the proposed JewEllsworth Trail, yellow is the existing Jewell Jubilee Trail, and blue is the potential trail to Little Wall Lake in the future. INHF map

Updated March 2011

The proposed JewEllsworth Trail, which will connect Jewell and Ellsworth, has come a long way since its inception five years ago. Due to recent setbacks, however, more help is needed to finish the 3.5 mile multiuse trail in Hamilton County.

Last August, Jewell and Ellsworth’s proposed grants just missed the cut for grant funding from Iowa’s Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP) program. If the 2010 legislature had fully funded the REAP program, Jewellsworth Trail would have received a grant, Hamilton County Conservation Board Executive Brian Lammers said. In January, Hamilton County also was disappointed to learn they would not receive a major federal grant.

Both Hamilton County and the two cities plan to apply for several grants again this year. Trail organizers are also appealing to local supporters and corporations for help. To boost grant potential by increasing local matching funds, the Hamilton County Conservation Board is working toward its goal of securing $100,000 in private support through fundraising.

“Having a larger private match would help our grant requests score higher and increase the likelihood of funding,” Lammers said. “We hope local citizens and businesses can help out.”

More than half the funding for the trail’s completion has already been raised. Those funds allowed Hamilton County and the two trail cities to purchase land in the trail corridor. Money for construction remains the final obstacle, says Lammers, who estimates the total cost of completing the project is around $950,000.

“Both cities are 100 percent in support of the project,” Lammers said. “They’ve been instrumental in public support and conducting private fundraising projects. Jewell and Ellsworth have done everything possible within their financial means.”

Hamilton County encourages private donations to the Jewell Area Development Enterprises (J.A.D.E.) Foundation or Hamilton County Conservation Board.

Aside from laying the concrete trail, funds raised will go toward rehabilitating rail bridges, building a new bridge over the Skunk River and other necessary enhancements.

The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, a statewide nonprofit conservation organization, purchased the final two trail corridor segments needed for the project in summer 2009, and held them until Jewell, Ellsworth and Hamilton County could raise the funds to purchase them.

“We are very happy we could help Hamilton County, Jewell and Ellsworth as they strive to complete Jewellsworth,” said Andrea Chase, INHF’s Trails Coordinator. “The communication and support of this rural community is really inspiring.”

Jewell purchased a 2.3 acre parcel from a private owner with a grant from the REAP program. That section of the corridor will connect JewEllsworth to the existing Jewell Jubilee Trail. The Hamilton County Conservation Board purchased about 30 acres from the Union Pacific Railroad Company with state recreational trail funds from the Department of Transportation.

The trail also received small land donations from the Heartland Cooperative in Jewell, Sportsman Hunting Club in Ames and Prairie Land Cooperative in Ellsworth.

Lammers also eventually hopes to see the construction of a trail extension from the Jewell Jubilee Trail to Little Wall Lake – two miles south of Jewell. The project would create a 7-8 mile trail from Little Wall Lake to Ellsworth, but the alignment for such a trail connection has yet to be determined.