Would you bike 120 miles? Iowa now has America’s longest paved trail loop

DALLAS COUNTY, Iowa — The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation’s Let’s Connect project has finished, connecting the High Trestle and Raccoon River Valley Trails, creating a 120-mile loop of continuous paved bike trails.

The project to connect the two trails has been in the works since the 1980s. Now that it’s completed many cyclists are expected to visit to ride the trail.

Luke Hoffman, the Executive Director of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition, said that the trail system in Iowa contributes millions of dollars to the economy.

“We have an economic impact study that we are working on to see what the impact is of cycling and trails across the whole state and we did this back in 2012. Back then it was $364 million so we expect that number to be much larger,” Hoffman said.

To learn more about the Let’s Connect project visit the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation’s website .

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