The effort to connect Council Bluffs to Underwood and Neola via trail continues. And once that’s done, the Pottawattamie County Trails Association and its partners hope to system to every town in the county and beyond.

The association serves as the fundraising and volunteer arm of the trails endeavor, working with Pottawattamie County Conservation to help raise local dollars for an endowment fund for construction and maintenance, according to Courtney Harter with the association.

“So we know the network is well cared for. And money is continually available for upkeep,” Harter said.

The trail currently extends from its head along Railroad Highway northeast of U.S. Highway 6 to just shy of Weston. Partners on the effort completed construction of two bridges over Mosquito Creek along the trail path.

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“Trails are the No. 1 amenity sought after by our community,” Iowa West Foundation Vice President of Grants and Initiatives Matthew Henkes said in an announcement about the art. “With the addition of colorful, engaging art, this becomes not just a trail but a place-based destination.”

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Harter said the association and its partners hope to hope to continue construction on the trail to Neola in the spring. From there, the plan is to keep going. According to its website, the association is part of Frontier Iowa Trails, a regional network of multi-use trails advocates. FIT also works with existing trails groups, including the Wabash Trace Nature Trail and Nishna Valley (T-Bone) trails in its effort to connect western Iowa.

“We’ve identified a network that would connect all the cities in Pottawattamie County, so you could hopefully at some point bike to every town,” Harter said. “And then we’d connect to surrounding counties — that’s the very long-term version.”