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27
rails
to
trails
u
spring/summer.12
destination
I
It’s the last week of summer
in central Iowa. Cottonwood
leaves are showing the first pale
blush of fall, and a bristling
wind rakes the plains. Yet even
as the warm season wanes, the
countryside still flitters with
life. A western fox snake soaks
up the last warmth from a strip
of pavement, and crickets buzz
and lurch in the breeze. With the
harvest soon to begin, soybeans
have rusted over to a coppery
gold, and dust swirls around
bustling grain elevators.
Spooling out into this
fertile heartland is the 25-mile
The year-old
rail-trail has quickly become
a signature Iowa adventure,
stretching among silos and
farmsteads and featuring an
artistic bridge 13 stories above
the Des Moines River valley.
Iowa
Story and Photos by Karl Wirsing
Artistic steel “cribbings”—
which glow with blue
LED lights at night—have
helped make the trail’s
namesake bridge an
unforgettable
attraction.