Closure Notice: A section of the trail between Adel and Ortonville is closed as of Tuesday, January 21st, 2025.
Overview
On the western outskirts of Des Moines, the Raccoon River Valley Trail offers a quintessential central Iowa experience. Over its 88.2-mile span, trail users can traverse woodlands, prairie, and agricultural landscapes. The route forms a loop through several rural communities with a long tail coming off the loop on its northern end that heads to Jefferson, as well as another tail on its southern end that heads toward Des Moines.
About the Route
The Raccoon River Valley Trail runs along a former railroad right-of-way that was first built in the 1870s to carry rail traffic between Des Moines and the Great Lakes region. Fully paved and with a level grade typical of a rail trail, it’s an easy walk or ride, though trail users may wish to conquer the trail over the course of multiple days due to its size.
Note: Trail use requires a $2 daily fee for individuals age 18 and older. All proceeds go to the conservation boards in the counties through which the trail passes, and the money is used for trail maintenance and improvements. Look for the payment drop boxes at the trailheads.
At the northern trailhead in Jefferson, trail users are greeted by a former Milwaukee Road depot painted a cheerful yellow. Although the building is open only for special occasions, ample parking is available here, as well as a drinking fountain. From the depot, the trail heads south past country homes for a few blocks until the trail dives under a shady tree canopy. The trail opens up to farmland as it approaches the old railroad town of Cooper at mile 7. In the summer, trail users may see a plethora of grasshoppers darting across the pathway. A highlight of this section is the 600-foot-long trestle bridge over the North Raccoon River.
From Cooper, it’s 5 miles to Herndon, where the trail crosses its first trail junction. This is where the loop portion of the route begins. Turn left to travel east to the towns of Jamaica, Dawson, and Perry, or continue southward to the towns of Yale and Panora.
Along the eastern leg of the loop, trail users will pass pedal through peaceful, picturesque terrain: farm fields and wildflower meadows interspersed with copses of trees. On either side of the trail, the brushy embankments are also bustling with birds. After 7 miles, the trail passes another depot (circa 1889) sitting trailside in Dawson. Peek inside at the displays of railroad history and the old baggage room. Here, tail users can also find restrooms and drinking water.
In another 6 miles, the trail reaches Perry, one of the larger towns along the route. The community truly embraces the trail, and in the windows of many businesses are signs welcoming trail visitors. Along the trail, trail users will pass a self-service bicycle repair station as the trail passes through the town of Perry, which also has a refurbished depot with restrooms, drinking water, and a covered picnic table. Restaurants and lodging are plentiful here.
From Perry, the route takes a turn southeast as it rolls through the small farming town of Minburn and then Dallas Center a few miles later. In Waukee, the eastern section of the trail meets the rest of the route at a trail junction.
In Waukee, trail users can either continue a short distance east to the trail's southern end in Clive or can pivot west toward Adel to continue on the trail’s loop. From Adel, the trail continues through Redfield, Linden (aptly named for its many Linden trees), and Panora in relatively quick succession. At Panora, the trail passes a lovely trailside garden, which features a covered shelter with railroad signage and a small section of track. The trail turns north here, and there is just 6 miles to go before reaching Yale, where the trail passes by a massive grain silo, as well as a city park with restrooms and water. Once the trail passes Yale, there is only 5 miles until Herndon, where the trail users will be back at the northern end of the eastern section of trail.
Connections
In Perry, the Raccoon River Valley Trail connects to the Hiawatha Trail, a short trail that in turn connects to the High Trestle Trail. Also in Perry, the High Trestle Trail to Raccoon River Valley Trail Connector provides a direct link to the High Trestle Trail.
In Waukee, the trail meets the Heart of the Warrior Trail.
At the trail's southern end, it connects to the Clive Greenbelt Trail.
The Raccoon River Valley Trail is part of the Great American Rail Trail, a 3,700-mile route from Washington to Washington D.C.
The Raccoon River Valley Trail runs between W Lincoln Way (Jefferson) and Clive Greenbelt Trail (Clive), with parking at the northern end.
Parking is also available at:
There are numerous parking options along this route. Please see TrailLink Map for all parking options and detailed directions.
This trail is mostly concrete and very smooth and pretty. Our favorite section is Yale to Redfield. The very worst section is Yale to Jefferson--I advise not even going on that section--multiple wide cracks, potholes, limbs hanging over the trail--we finally turned around and rode a different direction--we were at the Herndon TH/junction. Boo to Guthrie County for not maintaining their part of the trail. We camped at Springbrook State Park.
Rode this trail mid-May 2024. Surface is cement, so easy and flat biking and trail in great shape. We started in Perry, which is charming and makes a big deal out of the biking trail (can't miss the biking sculpture). We rode as far as Minburn and turned around to ride back for a ride of 20.5 (we also did part of the Sauk Rail Trail on this day). The RRVT is recommended on the Rails to Trails “HALL OF FAME.” $2 daily trail fee. Saw so many birds: cardinals, orioles, blue jays. Popular trail – lots of activity, bikers, walkers. Windy in the open parts. Found some keys and stuck them on a branch we pushed in on the side of the trail. Were delighted to find woven dandelions around the branch as a "thank you" when we rode back to Perry. Beautiful rural biking and people were so friendly. Great ride!
We rode yesterday from the depot in Jefferson, south through Cooper to Herndon. The first four miles were lovely and smooth on concrete. Then the asphalt began and was a bit rough until Cooper. The next five miles south to Herndon were extremely bad, as in, I don't care to ever ride that section again! Hopefully they can get enough money for resurfacing in the near future.
Really great trail, scenery very nice, distance farmland and nice parks but the section from Yale to halfway to Jefferson needs to be resurfaced, It was so annoying we did Not finish the last half to Jefferson… every 10 yards there was a horizontal, 2 inch indention across the trail….we turned around instead of finishing the trail to Jefferson. Such beautiful scenery. Please repair!
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