Another section falls into place for American Discovery trail

Wed November 16 2005
Posted Nov 16, 2005
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Another piece along the coast-to-coast American Discovery Trail fell into place Monday with the acquisition of a 24-mile discontinued rail corridor connecting Ankeny, Sheldahl, Slater, Madrid and Woodward. Marshall County's unofficially-named Highway 330 Trail is also a connecting piece in not only that national recreation trail stretching from Delaware to California, but also in an expanding network of Central Iowa trails. "Trails seem to be an up and coming thing," said Mike Stegmann, Marshall County Conservation Board director, who expects the acquisition to increase trail traffic to Marshalltown. "It's hard when you just have a short link available. Longer sections are more apt to have more traffic." The acquisition involving four counties is a major link in a proposed plan to create two 100-mile trail loops that meet near Des Moines, according to the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (INHF). "We think this is an important piece in developing what will be some of the longest and most dynamic trail loops in all of North America. This will help us reach our goal of being trails capital of the world," said Pat Boddy, director of Polk County Conservation. The Highway 330 Trail would make Marshalltown the northeastern extent of their proposed east loop. The trail that will result from the acquisition is not expected to be completed until the end of the decade or later. A number of other trail possibilities in Marshall County linger on the horizon. An extension from Melbourne to Rhodes is one, to link the end of the Highway 330 Trail to the three sections of the Heart of Iowa Trail stretching from Rhodes to Slater (and soon on to Woodward), according to Stegmann. "Right now its just pencil drawings. Eventually we'll try to get all those links together," he said. Even less concrete but nevertheless on the drawing board is a potential stretch from Marshalltown to Eldora, hinging on whether or not the Union Pacific Railroad abandons their line there. It would be years from now if that happened, but the lines of communication are open, Stegmann said. A route that has been looked at in detail is connecting the Highway 330 Trail to Marshalltown's popular bike trail at GrimesFarm, he said. That idea has been designed and preliminary costs assessed, although it is likely to be redone, according to Stegmann. "We're hoping to connect GrimesFarm with the Highway 330 Trail in the next few years," he said. The potential linking of the Highway 330 Trail and the Chichaqua Valley Trail at Baxter is on some people's radar screen - namely the INHF - but not Stegmann's. The INHF's Web site is www.inhf.org, and more information about the American Discovery Trail can be found at www.discoverytrail.org. --- Ryan Brinks may be reached at rbrinks@timesrepublican.com