Cedar River and the Cedar Valley Nature Trail

The trail follows the grade of a former interurban and freight railroad that once linked the Cedar Valley's towns. When the line was abandoned, local advocates worked to convert it into a public trail, part of a national rail-to-trail movement that has turned thousands of miles of unused railbeds into recreation corridors. The Cedar Valley Nature Trail was among the early and influential examples of that idea.

Because it follows a railroad grade, the trail is remarkably level and gentle, ideal for long-distance cycling and easy walking. The old rail corridor also means the route passes through the hearts of the towns it connects, so riders can stop for food, water, or a look around before continuing along the river.

The Cedar River is one of Iowa's major waterways, flowing from the north through the eastern part of the state on its way to join the Iowa River. Its valley is a broad, fertile corridor of woodland, prairie remnants, and farm fields, and the river itself supports fishing, paddling, and abundant wildlife along its banks.

The trail keeps company with the river for much of its length, offering glimpses of the water through the trees and stretches where the path runs close beside it. In spring the timber greens up and wildflowers bloom along the corridor, and in fall the hardwoods turn, making those the prime seasons for a ride through the valley.

The trail threads through a series of small eastern Iowa towns, including Vinton, a county seat on the Cedar River with a historic downtown, and it links toward the larger cities of Cedar Rapids and Waterloo at either end. These towns grew up along the railroad and the river, and today they serve as trailheads and rest stops for the people who use the path.

Part of the pleasure of a long ride is watching the landscape shift from town to country and back again, the trail carrying you from a small-town main street out into the timber and prairie and on to the next town. It is a low-key, human-scale way to see the Cedar Valley, one river town at a time.

The Cedar River valley is the ancestral homeland of the Meskwaki, the Sauk, and the Ioway, for whom the state is named, peoples who lived, hunted, and traveled along this river long before the railroads. Their descendants remain part of Iowa today, and the Meskwaki own their Settlement in the nearby Iowa River valley near Tama, land they purchased to remain in their homeland.

The river valleys of eastern Iowa were rich in game, fish, and timber, drawing Native peoples for thousands of years. The trail that now follows the old rail grade traces a corridor of human travel far older than the railroad, a reminder that the river has guided people through this country for a very long time.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.