Cedar Valley (Nature) Trail is a

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

running from

Hiawatha, Iowa Hiawatha is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States. It is a suburb located in the northwestern side of Cedar Rapids and is part of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,183 at the time of the 2020 census, an in ...

Waterloo, Iowa Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census the population was 67,314, making it the eighth-largest city in the state. The city is part of the Waterloo – Cedar Falls ...

. It runs through the counties of

Linn Linn may refer to: People * Linn (surname) * Linn (given name) * Linn da Quebrada, stage name of Brazilian singer, actress, screenwriter and television personality Lina Pereira dos Santos (born 1990) Places Germany * Linn (Gangkofen), a part ...

, Benton, and

Black Hawk Black Hawk and Blackhawk may refer to: Animals * Black Hawk (horse), a Morgan horse that lived from 1833 to 1856 * Common black hawk, ''Buteogallus anthracinus'' * Cuban black hawk, ''Buteogallus gundlachii'' * Great black hawk, ''Buteogallus ur ...

. The southern as well as the northern of the trail are paved with

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

, with the remainder being lined with crushed

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

. Because locomotives required the route to be flat, at no point in the trail does the grade exceed 2%.

Cities on the Trail

* Hiawatha * Lafayette * Center Point *

Urbana __NOTOC__ Urbana can refer to: Places Italy *Urbana, Italy United States *Urbana, Illinois **Urbana (conference), a Christian conference formerly held in Urbana, Illinois *Urbana, Indiana * Urbana, Iowa *Urbana, Kansas * Urbana, Maryland *Urbana, ...

Brandon Brandon may refer to: Names and people *Brandon (given name), a male given name * Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins Places Australia *Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales *Brandon, Q ...

* LaPorte City * Gilbertville * Evansdale

Trail repair after 2008 flood

In 2013 the trail was again open for all 52 contiguous miles. Two bridges had been washed out in the Iowa Flood of 2008. The Cedar River bridge about seven miles west of

was covered by flood waters, and the limestone surface was washed away. In June 2012 the Black Hawk County, Iowa Board of Supervisors voted to award a contract with Herberger Construction Co., of

Indianola Indianola may refer to: Places in the United States * Indianola, California (disambiguation) ** Indianola (Eureka), California * Indianola, Florida * Indianola, Georgia * Indianola, Illinois * Indianola, Iowa * Indianola, Kansas, a former settleme ...

, Iowa to build the new Cedar River crossing. The new 700 foot span was opened in the spring of 2013.

History

The path follows the route of the electric

interurban The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 a ...

Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Northern Railway The Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Northern Railway (WCF&N) was an electric interurban railway that operated in the US state of Iowa. History The Waterloo and Cedar Falls Rapid Transit was organized in 1895 to build an 8-mile line from Waterloo to near ...

which ran between Waterloo and

Cedar Rapids Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, north of Iowa City and northeast of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city. ...

until 1956.

Illinois Central The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also co ...

ran freight trains on the line until 1977 when it was abandoned and the tracks were removed. The Iowa state legislature and nonprofit organizations such as the

Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (INHF) is a statewide non-profit natural conservation organization based in Des Moines, Iowa. The organization has protected more than in 94 of Iowa’s 99 counties and worked on hundreds of different project s ...

and the Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund raised the funds necessary to purchase the site by 1983. The following year, the trail opened to public traffic.

References

External links

Rolling by the Rivers - Cedar Valley Nature TrailCedar Valley Nature Trail, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation Linn County Trails Assoc.Interactive Trail Map With Mile Markers from bikely.com
{{Iowa hiking trails Protected areas of Benton County, Iowa Protected areas of Black Hawk County, Iowa Protected areas of Linn County, Iowa Rail trails in Iowa Illinois Central Railroad National Recreation Trails in Iowa 1984 establishments in Iowa Protected areas established in 1984

Cities on the Trail

Trail repair after 2008 flood

History

See also

References

External links