Sauk Rail Trail opens with "Ride The Rail" Celebration

Posted May 10, 2011
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Two Counties Come Together To Host Inaugural Ride on June 11. The Sauk Rail Trail will celebrate its Grand Opening on Saturday, June 11, with an inaugural Ride the Rail bicycle ride. Paving on the 33‐mile recreational trail was completed last fall and work has resumed this spring to ensure that final touches are finished in time to welcome riders to the area this summer. Registration on the day of the ride is $20 and includes a Sauk Rail Trail t-‐shirt. Riders can pre-‐register for $15 by downloading a mail-‐in registration form or pre-‐register online at SaukTrail.org. Sauk Rail Trail t-‐shirts are also being sold separately at the Carroll County Conservation office and ArtworX Design Shop in Lake View. All shirt and ride proceeds will go towards trail improvements and maintenance.

Events

Ride the Rail will begin at 10:00am with opening ceremonies at Swan Lake in Carroll. Speakers will welcome guests and recognize trail supporters before a ribbon cutting officially opens the trail to riders. Ribbon cutting ceremonies will be held in each community as the ride travels through Maple River, Breda and Carnarvon before ending in Lake View. The official schedule of events follows:

10 a.m. – Opening ribbon cutting ceremony in Carroll at Swan Lake
11 a.m. – Ribbon cutting in Maple River at park shelter house
12:30 p.m. – Ribbon cutting in Breda at park playground area
2:00 p.m. – Ribbon cutting in Carnarvon at trail-side picnic area
3:00 p.m. – Ribbon cutting in Lake View at bike arch trail head on Third Street

Riders are encouraged to join the celebration at any point as it moves along the trail. Breda Savings Bank will be serving a complimentary lunch to riders at the Breda shelter house. Trees Forever, a non-‐profit organization that plants and cares for natural areas, will be on hand to showcase sketches showing proposed enhancements along the trail that are the result of a local visioning project in Breda, Carnarvon, and Lake View. Lakeshore Cyclery of Storm Lake will provide a support vehicle along the route and has made generous donations for prize drawings that will be held at each of the five community ribbon cutting ceremonies. Riders may opt to return to Carroll for a total of 66 miles that day. There is no automobile traffic to contend with, but headlights and taillights are recommended for those who choose

Helpful Links

Map

About Sauk Rail Trail

The Sauk Rail Trail is a 33 mile long multi-use recreational trail that was completed in 1998. The trail is managed by both the Sac and Carroll County Conservation Boards. It is the first recreational trail in the state of Iowa to connect two state parks. It begins in Lake View near Blackhawk Lake State Park and winds through the countryside of Sac and Carroll counties, ending in Swan Lake State Park south of Carroll. There are several rest stops along the way, benches, bars and restaurants. The trail surface is concrete from Lake View to Maple River and asphalt from Maple River Junction to Swan Lake in Carroll. It is an excellent place for biking, walking, jogging and in-line skating and is open for snowmobiling and cross-county skiing during the winter. The part of the trail around Swan Lake is particularly hilly. A more level section of trail runs from Maple River to Lake View along an old rail bed. This section goes through the Hazelbrush Wildlife Area, an 80-acre county park. Fees: user fees are required for those ages 18 and up, $1.00/day or $15.00/year; trail passes can be found at the Carroll County Conservation Board, Sac County Conservation Board and trail-heads, there are several of those along the way. Towns: Carroll | Maple River | Breda | Carnarvon | Lake View Counties: Sac and Carroll