IOWA

Iowa has some trails with minimal obstacles.  Some are very easy and others are wheelchair accessible.  Here are a few of them.
I am sure there must be many places to go in Iowa, but wheelchair accessibility does not seem to be on Iowa’s official radar.  These links were found through Internet search.  I would love to have some first-hand recommendations.  With your help, we can share our knowledge with disabled people everywhere and also increase awareness of the need for more accessibility. Please e-mail me with your suggestions using the form in the sidebar.

Federal
State
Local
Private
Miscellaneous

Federal

• Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge
  The refuge was “established as a refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife.  A diversity of habitat types provide excellent feeding, resting, and roosting sites for wintering waterfowl and Sandhill Cranes , as well as nesting sites for neotropical migrant birds and many species of resident wildlife. ”  Here is their website.
  Descriptions of the Nature Trails   Map and Brochure   Phone 256-353-7243
  Atkinson Trail  length? There is a “boardwalk crossing over a cypress swamp, then continuing through a wooded area.”
  Wildlife Observation Trail  200 yards  This trail has been designed for observing butterflies and birds.

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State

• This downloadable brochure about Iowa State Parks has a somewhat limited chart of amenities

• Here is a list, with links to Iowa’s eighty-five State Parks, six State Forests, twenty-four State Wildlife Areas, State Wildlife Management Areas, two State Wildlife Refuges, and three National Wildlife Refuges.

• Big Creek State Park
  This state park, eleven miles NW of Des Moines is near Polk city.   There is fishing, hiking, hunting, and boating.  There is an accessible fishing pier.  Travel Iowa  says the park is “Accessible to Persons with Disabilities.”  Call to be sure just what that includes: 515-984-6473.  Here is the DNR’s website  and the website from Iowa Parks.
  ?  The website says a “26-mile paved multi-use trail allows bicyclists and pedestrians to travel from the beach south through the Saylorville Lake area all the way to Des Moines.”  This sounds likely for accessibility, but you had better call to be sure.

• Elinor Bedell State Park 
  This state park near Spirit Lake is on the shore of East Lake Okoboji.  In addition to hiking there is swimming, boating and fishing.  Trails are paved, but call to be sure of conditions 712-337-3211.
  Here is the DNR’s website  and the more informational website from Iowa Parks.
  “The park includes an extensive system of paved hiking trails. The trails are accessible to all entrance points connecting activities and points of interest. A raised boardwalk will take park users through the wetland areas and along the lake. The system is approximately 7,500 feet in length, paved, and accessible for persons with mobility impairment.”

• George Wyth State Park  –
  This park near Waterloo runs along the Cedar River and includes three lakes.  One of them,  George Wyth Lake, is a no wake lake with a handicap accessible fishing pier. Call  319-232-5505 for more information about accessibility and trail conditions.  Although the trails are paved, occasional flooding on the Cedar River may make them inaccessible.  You can download maps from their website.
  ?  There are  “…5.5 miles of paved multi-purpose trails, which are great for biking, in-line skating and walking.”  They don’t mention wheelchairs, but I should think a paved trail good enough for in-line skating would qualify.
  ? There are 6 miles of grass hiking trails.

• Lake Anita State Park 
  This state park on Lake Anita offers fishing, hiking and camping.  Call 712/762-3564 to be sure of accessibility.  You can download a map and brochure from their website.
  ?   A 4-mile paved multi-use trail circles Lake Anita and passed through restored prairie and successional timber.  ” The paved Grass Roots Trail connects Lake Anita with the city of Anita leading to the downtown area.
  ?  Nature trail 1/3 mile demonstrates some of the trees in the areas.

• Lake Macbride State Park
  Lake Macbride State Park at Solon has 2,180 acres offering “Multi-use trails”, birding, swimming, boating, picnicking, camping, and fishing.  Call 319-624-2200 for more information about accessibility.  You can download a map and brochure from their website.
  ?   –  “A five-mile crushed limestone multi-use trail is located on the north side of the lake and connects the park to the community of Solon. While a majority of this trail runs along the shoreline of Lake Macbride, several portions pass through oak/hickory forest or alongside restored Iowa prairie. More than seven miles of additional hiking trails await your visit, including one especially scenic crushed limestone trail that extends 1.25 miles between the beach and Lake Macbride’s dam.”

• Lake Manawa State Park
  Lake Manawa State Park, Council Bluffs has paved bike trails which may be accessible, but are not described so on the websites.   Call 712-366-0220 for more information.   Here is the DNR’s website  and Iowa Parks’ website.
  ?  There are 7 miles of paved trails, but difficulty is not given.

  The Nature Trail is paved and accessible.  Length not given on the website.

• Pine Lake State Park
  Pine Lake, west of Waterloo, has a 2.6 mile paved bike trail, but they don’t indicate on their website if it is accessible for wheelchairs.  There is a self-guided nature trail which may or may not be accessible.  Call 641-858-5832.  Here is the DNR website.  There is more information in the Iowa Parks’s website.
  ?  “Multi-purpose” paved trails 2.5 miles.  Call to find out how difficult these trails are.
  ?  The 2.6 mile paved bike trail connects the Cabins and Campground to the beach on Lower Pine Lake, and to fishing access on both Upper and Lower Pine Lakes. Other trails circle Lower Pine Lake, or wind through bottomland forest along the Iowa River.

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Local

• Council Bluffs
  Here is Council Bluffs Parks and Recreation’s website.  Their phone number is 712-890-5291.
  The Iowa School of the Deaf Nature Center Trail  is a one mile trail with historical markers, and restorations of a wetland and tall grass prairie and a wild flower plot.  Location Map.  The trail reviewed on AllTrails.com .
  Valley View Trail 8.4 miles runs along the eastern side of Council Bluffs.  The description on AllTrails.com says that it is “wheelchair friendly”.

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• Montgomery County
  Here is the county parks website. 
  Pilot Grove Park is a twenty acre park includes a campground and a six acre lake.
  0.5 mile trail around the lake.

• Pottawattamie County
  Hitchcock Nature Center has 10 miles of trails, many of which are marked easy on the trail map.  MomsOfOmaha.com mentions a wheelchair accessible nature trail, although I don’t see it on the map.  Call 712-545-3283 for information.

• Woodbury County To learn more about the two areas below, call 701-258-0838
  Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center  at Sioux City has a wheelchair accessible trail. Length not given.   Trail Map
  Fowler Forest has a wooded loop trail which may be easy.  Map

  Little Sioux Park (phone 712-372-4984) has a 1 3/4 mile concrete trail.  Map  “The Union Bridge Trail connects the park to the town of Correctionville with a ten foot wide concrete path that winds through scenic areas and crossing the Little Sioux River with a spectacular bridge.”
  Snyder Bend  (phone 712-946-5622) has an “accessible limestone and concrete trail.”  Map  There is also an accessible fishing dock.

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Private

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Miscellaneous

• Nature For The Blind has a directory of Braille trails for almost every state in the US and for many other countries.

• The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy lists wheelchair accessible trails in Iowa.

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