A Tour of the Raccoon River Valley Trail

The following is a verbal tour of the Raccoon River Valley Trail beginning with its junction at the Clive Greenbelt Trail in Clive and proceeding west through Dallas, Guthrie, and Greene Counties.  Points of interest are highlighted along the way.

The Raccoon River Valley Trail is an approx. 57 mile long, hard surfaced multi-use recreational trail.  The following dialog will take the reader on a verbal tour of this trail starting at its junction with the Clive Greenbelt trail in Clive and proceeding west.  The five miles from this starting junction to the Waukee parking areas follows along the north side of US Highway 6 (also called Hickman Ave.).  There is a large sign showing the trail route in the west parking lot in Waukee along with a self-dispensing tube for trail permits.  The RRVT continues along the north edge of Highway 6  for another three and one half miles to Ortonville or at least to the site where the town used to be.   Another self-dispensing permit tube is found here.   At that point, the trail veers away from the highway and proceeds through a more wooded area eventually crossing the North Raccoon River and entering Adel.  There is a trail user parking area at 18th. St, in Adel. A self -dispensing trail permit tube is located there.  From Adel, the RRVT enters a more open agricultural landscape on a ten mile journey to Redfield.  Keep on the look out for prairie remnants in this area.  In Redfield, the Redfield Depot has been restored, and now serves as a concession area, a small museum, and has a modern restroom. A permit tube is found here too.  Also in Redfield, there is a spur off the trail that will take the trail user to Hanging Rock along the Middle Raccoon River.  From Redfield to Linden, the trail covers a mixture of woodland and more open areas.  For a distance it travels along the Middle Raccoon River.  It is about six miles from Redfield to Linden.  The RRVT leaves Dallas County just west of Linden and heads to Panora about six miles away.  At Panora, the trail turns north for another six miles to Yale.  At present, the RRVT starts again in Herndon and extends to Jefferson about 13.1 miles away.