An ambitious new bicycle trail is proposed for northwest Iowa that would span five counties, following the Highway 71 corridor.

The Iowa Great Lakes Connection Five-County Trail would complete a bike trail from Spirit Lake to Carroll through Dickinson, Clay, Buena Vista, Sac, and Carroll counties.

Group organizer Kathy Fueston says trail supporters met last month in Storm Lake for the first time since 2013.

“We had a great showing from all five counties,” Fueston says, “and certainly representation on how they saw their portion of the trail being built.”

A new trail would run from Spencer to Lake View. The project would connect to existing trail systems on each end, including the Iowa Great Lakes Spine Trail to the north and the Sauk Rail Trail to the south. Smaller loops could connect other communities. Fueston says the next section of the project will be from Dickinson to Clay counties.

“That project should start this summer,” she says. “They’re hoping to go at least halfway, but they may make it all the way to Clay County, depending on funding. Sac County is currently working on a trail to Lake View. Those two sections are probably next, and then Sac City to Storm Lake, Storm Lake to Spencer will be the ones that we’ll really be working hard on to get the funding and figure out exactly how our trail route will go.”