Iowa City’s Parks and Recreation Department opened a new Ice House Single Track Trail located at Terrell Mill Park.

The bike track trail was officially ready for public use on Aug. 14, and it includes beginner and intermediate routes with features around the old Englert Ice House foundation. The trail also connects to the Iowa River Trail and other local routes to make it easily accessible for cyclists.

Iowa City Parks and Forestry Superintendent Tyler Baird said the trail fills a gap in Iowa City’s outdoor recreation offerings, catering to various age groups.

“[The trail] is something that we had envisioned and hoped for for quite a while and the bicycle community had been asking for,” Baird said. “We happened to find the right spot for it finally.”

The process involved years of consideration and planning to find the optimal location within the park system, he said.

The design and build of the trail were done in-house by the city staff, with some expertise sought from the superintendent of parks at Coralville, as Coralville has had single-track trails for some time. Staff then walked the site, picked a route, and created a GPS-style map for the build crew to follow. The crew made the necessary adjustments on-site and rode segments of the trail to ensure it felt right for biking.