Project information:

The development and construction of the Ioway Trail is a long-term project. When complete, it will provide over 75 miles of trail connecting numerous trails in a seven county area (Benton, Iowa, Johnson, Linn, Poweshiek, Tama, and Marshall Counties in Iowa). It will also establish several trail loops including an alternative southern loop to the proposed American Discovery Trail (the proposed 6,800 mile coast-to-coast trail). 

Additionally, this trail route was an identified route on the Statewide Trails Vision Map created in 2000 by the Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT). 

Currently, the Ioway trail has been broken down into a series of four phases to keep the project on a more manageable scale.  Trail development will begin in the eastern section of the corridor where an extensive system of trails currently exist and/or have been proposed within the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City area. This is also an area of significant population densities. Connecting this area to the Amana Colonies, the number one tourist attraction in Iowa, will provide the impetus to start the western development of the trail through the Iowa River Corridor which includes 12,000 acres of public land and wildlife areas, a designated Bird Conservation Area, segments of the historic Lincoln Highway, numerous rural communities with historic and cultural sites, and the Meskwaki Indian Settlement.