| What types of cycling activities are there to do in Iowa? |
Iowa is a great place to ride your bicycle! Whether you are a recreational or sport rider, tourer or racer, Iowa has the trails and roads for you.
Cycling is a great past-time in Iowa. RAGBRAI has helped make cycling more accepted over the years.
Trails
Iowa has one of the largest trails network in the United States. Many trails are listed here.
Paved Roads
From the needs of Iowa farms to be connected, we Iowa cyclists are lucky to have a great rural grid-work of paved roads with towns every 10-12 miles. Most towns have convenience stores and/or small cafes. Some larger towns have hotels/motels if you need to spend the night.
These roads are perfect for training rides, weekend jaunts or multi-day touring.
Urban
Most larger cities have trails and/or bike routes running through the city. Iowa is becoming much more bicycle-friendly each year.
Gravel Roads
Just like the paved roads, there is an abundance of gravel roads that criss-cross Iowa in one miles grids.
Riding gravel is the perfect way to get off the beaten path and see a whole different kind of scenery, but watch out for the farm dogs.
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| How do I find out about Iowa attractions and amenities? |
check out BIKEIOWA's "Iowa Tourism Links" which lists the most popular sites you can use for finding a destination!
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| I'm looking for a weekend trail destination. What do you suggest? |
The Raccoon River Valley Trail Association aims to make this trail one of America’s best!
A new organization was formed in early 2006 to market and promote the Raccoon River Valley Trail in west central Iowa.
The Raccoon River Valley Trail Association, a non-profit membership group, will also facilitate tourism and economic development initiatives up and down the 56-mile-long paved trail, the first parts of which were constructed and opened in 1989. The trail now stretches from Jefferson on the north, to the Des Moines metro area on the southeast. A 33-mile north loop through Perry will likely be completed by 2007 or ’08, then making the RRVT, at 89 miles, the longest trail in Iowa and one of the longest in the nation.
http://www.raccoonrivervalleytrail.org/
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My wife and I will be in Iowa City for a family gathering in Late May/early April. Can you send me maps of the area, or send me to a link to order them? We would be interested in trails or bikeways along river valleys or rails to trails.
Thanks
CT
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Here is a good link to the Iowa River Corridor Trail in Iowa City. The existing trail is 6 miles long.
http://www.inhf.org/iowatrails/iowacorridor-intro.htm
Iowa City Metro Trails Map
http://www.jccog.org/documents/trailsmapltr.pdf
Here is another link with a future master plan of trails in that area.
http://www.iowaytrail.org/index.php
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