High Trestle Trail

The High Trestle Trail is a paved cycling and walking route stretching across 25 miles through central Iowa, linking five small towns. The route runs mostly through gentle farmland and open prairie, except for a long bridge section that spans a wooded river valley.

A railway line carried coal, grain, and passengers through this region starting in 1881, until operations ended in the 1980s. A foundation purchased the abandoned corridor in 2005 and converted it into a public pathway, preserving the old bridge steelwork.

The name refers to the large steel framework that once carried trains over the Des Moines River valley. The blue lighting after dark recalls the underground tunnels where miners once worked before the mines closed.

Access is available through parking areas in the towns along the route, most of which are open during daylight hours. The bridge is best visited in late afternoon or evening when the sun sits lower and the lights come on.

The 43 vertical steel frames of the bridge structure stand at regular intervals and together form a kind of open roof over the path. On windy days the air passing through the metal grids produces a soft humming sound that varies with wind strength.

Location: Iowa

GPS coordinates: 41.87120,-93.69220

Latest update: December 5, 2025 22:27