Description

Destination

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Come out to celebrate our newly constructed "West Route" of the Gay Lea Wilson Trail as it connects from Ankeny to Des Moines!

This project is the last connection remaining in the process of linking the High Trestle/Neal Smith trails to the Gay Lea Wilson Trail.

About this Gay Lea Wilson Trail extension

The total mileage of this section of the GLW Trail being built by Polk County Conservation is 2.48 miles bringing the total length of the trail to 14.5 miles.

It starts at the eastern most reach of Aurora (to where it hits 4 Mile Creek) northward along the west bank under Broadway and I-80 and NE 54th Ave before turning westward on the N side of 54th and traveling west until NE 29th Street.  At that point it crosses into Ankeny.  Ankeny has extended the GLW from Carney Marsh to meet up with the trail.

This trail already has two completed sections. One follows Four-Mile Creek through parts of Des Moines. The second section links Pleasant Hill with Altoona along a former railroad corridor.

When finished, this trail will stretch 35 miles from Ankeny to Yellow Banks County Park and east to the Chichaqua Valley Trail. It is part of the proposed 110-mile trail loop in central Iowa. MAP  [source Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation]

Who is Gay Lea Wilson?

Gay Lea Wilson of Pleasant Hill has been working on trails advocacy for 25 years!

Back in the late 1980s, Wilson was raising her family on Des Moines’ east side and was spurred to advocate for trails because she wanted a place for kids to ride their bicycles and enjoy nature. Throughout the past two decades, she’s been there to inform new officials about the history of the trails and to reinforce the idea that trails are more than exercise paths: They are a tool to connect people and diverse communities.

You are in luck - Christopher Pratt of the Des Moines Register wrote a great Feature on Gay in early September 2013. READ IT HERE

Route

This is a trail opening celebration.  EIther ride down or ride the trail afterwards!

Registration

n/a

Contact

Kami Rankin

kami.rankin@polkcountyiowa.gov