Monday, November 14, 2011

Bike Iowa: Wabash Trace Trail


I was fortunate that my work took me to a part of the state I've never been to before, the town of Malvern in southwest Iowa.  I was excited to finally get a chance to check out the Wabash Trace Trail, a 62-mile bike trail that stretches from the Council Bluffs/Omaha area down close to the Missouri border.

Malvern seems proud of its place along the Wabash Trace.  Bike art decorated the main street.  Wonder if the town has ever hosted RAGBRAI?


I had a little trouble finding the trail head, but eventually found it a couple blocks west of downtown.  It was a chilly day, and it was later in the afternoon, so I didn't venture very far down the trail.

It is a beautiful trail.  Definitely one of my new favorite discoveries in Iowa.  I'm so glad I got to see it in the fall and enjoy all the autumn colors.



About a mile north of town, the trail turned from concrete to limestone.  I was a little worried about riding my little bike down an unpaved path, but the limestone was actually very smooth.  The only bumps were when I ran over a few black walnuts that had fallen from the trees. 

Up ahead, I saw what looked like a tunnel in the distance.  It turned out that the tunnel was actually just a thick canopy of trees.  It was quite something!




The falling leaves completely covered the trail at a few points.  It was fun to sink my bike tires into a pile of leaves.  So glad I brought my bike along so I could check out the Wabash Trace Trail.

No comments:

Post a Comment