High Trestle Trail
Easy
25.6 miles
Paved
Featured
Iowa's most iconic trail featuring the stunning 13-story High Trestle Trail Bridge — a half-mile-long engineering and art masterpiece that is one of the most photographed locations in the state.
Activities
biking
walking
running
Trail Highlights
The High Trestle Trail Bridge, 13 stories above the Des Moines River, with 41 steel frames creating a mine-shaft illusion. Best visited at night when the blue LED lights illuminate the bridge.
Before you go
- From downtown
- Woodward trailhead is about 32 miles and 40 minutes northwest. The Madrid trailhead is closer to 28 miles and 35 minutes.
- Parking
- Free lots at the Woodward, Madrid, Slater, Sheldahl and Ankeny trailheads. Woodward and Madrid are the ones that fill, and on a warm Saturday evening they fill completely.
- Where to start
- Madrid for the shortest walk to the bridge, Woodward for the trailhead with the most parking and the shortest wait for food afterwards.
- Dogs
- Leashed dogs are fine on the trail and on the bridge. The deck is open steel grating in places and dogs often dislike it, so expect to carry a small one across.
- In winter
- Open, not plowed. The lights run year round and a still, cold night is the clearest view of them you will get all year. Walk it rather than ride it.
- Cost
- Free. Bike rentals near the Woodward and Madrid trailheads are seasonal and worth calling ahead about.
Written