I laid out the options and the probabilities. The group chose to explore the paved Walnut Creek Trail to the west. We saw lots of evidence of the creek having been out of its banks earlier this week. Let's hope things are drier for our Tuesday stroll at Ewing on the 22nd.

Join us for fun on the Rollercoaster (Trail) at Center Trails in Des Moines. Meet in the Ashworth Pool parking lot at the end of 45th Street by 10:00 a.m.



We will use the paved Bill Riley Trail and 45th Street to make a loop with the south half of Rollercoaster. We can go clockwise or counter-clockwise. There will be about half a mile of pavement and a mile of dirt.

We almost missed our turnaround point! Look at how overgrown that blue truck is. Thank you Jim for your eagle eye. Thank you to the new folks for joining us. I hope you can all make it next Tuesday, September 1st at Center Trails.

Join us for some new (to this series) dirt trail and perhaps some surprises. To access the J-11 Trail we will use the same meeting spot as when we visit Denman Woods. Park along the south side of North Valley Drive west of the bridge over Walnut Creek. Meet by 10:00 at the west end of the bridge.

This walk uses the paved Walnut Creek Trail and will enter and exit J-11 a few times as we walk out and back for a total of 1.8 miles.

Let’s check out Fourmile Mountain Bike Park’s new parking lot! We will leave from there at 10:00 a.m.

We will head north on old 42nd and enter the trail system. We will turn right and take the trail to the other side of the creek. Last time we were here the group said they would like to explore the flow trails since they are open to hikers. We can vote to see if we want to do that clockwise or counter-clockwise. If my math is right, it will be about 1.5 miles.

Only 83° but it felt like more. This wasn't just the hilliest route, it's possibly the shadiest, thank goodness! We saw an owl, heard a summer tanager, and looked for pops of color amongst all the green. Next Tuesday we will check out the new parking lot at Fourmile and explore the flow trails. See you there!

Well, new trail to see was good! But wow, I-35/80 was loud. The top-of-levee trail is farther in and has more trees between it and the cars, so we will try that next time we use this meeting spot. Next stroll is Center Trails on the 28th, and except for children playing, that one is pretty peaceful!

That was steamy! The trails had dried out enough we could do most of our planned route, so that made me happy. See you at Sycamore next Tuesday. I have a whole new meeting place!

It wasn't quite a long enough hike to make it all the way to the brick piles, but we did see some bricks and plenty of other interesting things. Thank you for coming! See you in two weeks at Ewing.

Join us for a walk around the north part of Rollercoaster Trail and an excursion through the Rose Garden. We will meet on the west side of the Des Moines Art Center. Park on Myron and Jacqueline Blank Pkwy by 10:00 a.m.

This route begins walking down the parkway to catch the dirt trail. We will hike up Rollercoaster and head down around the Greenwood Park Lagoon. We’ll cross 45th Street and catch Hillside Trail to take us back north. After crossing 45th again we will be back on Rollercoaster for a bit before we turn into the Clare and Miles Mills Rose Garden. This loop will be about 1.5 miles.

National Trails Day is Saturday, June 6. Celebrate with us at Sycamore Trails.

• 3.1-Mile (5K) Hike led by Roccasecca Fitness
• 1-Mile Stroll led by Roccasecca Fitness
• 5–8 Mile Trail Run led by Capital Striders Turkeys
• No-Drop Mountain Bike Ride led by Central Iowa Trail Association

Trash Pickup — bags provided

It was nice and shady in the woods, and there was only the sound of us and the birds. Eagle-eye Dave saw spiders, deer, and more. Thank you for coming. See you June 6th at National Trails Day at Sycamore!

Too wet trails are always a disappointment. Thank you for showing up and exploring the roads and grassy areas in and around the park. There is always something to see!

Let’s check out some recent trail work at Center Trails in Des Moines. Meet in the Ashworth Pool parking lot at the end of 45th Street by 10:00 a.m.

We will head north on 45th Street. We will join the dirt trail where it crosses the road that leads up to the academy. We’ll stroll down behind the pool, check out the old paved trail that leads up the hill, and admire the dirt trail reconstruction CITA did in March. Then we’ll continue on the Hillside Trail and come back down on Phil’s Folly for a total of 1.5 miles.

Let’s visit the Ewing Park lilacs! Meet by 10:00 a.m. in our usual Ashley Okland Star Playground parking lot on south side of McKinley, just west of Indianola Avenue.

We’ll start on a dirt trail and take the bridge over to the other side of the soapbox derby track. There we’ll get a little taste of our usual trails along the creek. Then we will come out of the woods through part of the disc golf course. We will see the lilacs as we climb to the top of the hill on the Harry Piper Parkway and meander back down the hill on the grass. Finally we’ll cross back over the creek to the lot. This will total about 2 miles.

Join us for a stroll through the woods of Southwoods Park. The driveway for this park is just off 35th Street, across from the West Des Moines Learning Resource Center. Meet by 10:00 a.m. in the disc golf course parking lot.

We will walk up the paved trail from the lot to the singletrack. We turn right and keep turning right so that we walk the entire outer loop and the spur that goes behind the police station to the skills area. This route is about 1.5 miles.

It’s time to return to Banner! It’s a bit of a drive down to Banner Lakes, but the uniqueness of this trail should make it worthwhile. From Hwy 69, turn east on Elk Horn Avenue. Then immediately turn right into the park. Drive until you reach the only T-intersection in the park. Right here is the third lot in and it has a boat ramp. We will leave from there at 10:00 a.m.

Our walk will use some road, but will be primarily a tour of the trail named Coal Miner’s Daughter. The total mileage will be about 2.7 miles.

Join us for fun on the Rollercoaster (Trail) at Center Trails in Des Moines. Meet in the Ashworth Pool parking lot at the end of 45th Street by 10:00 a.m.

We will head south on the paved Bill Riley Trail to the dirt entrance and hike north on Rollercoaster to the lagoon where we have the option of making a quick lap before we return to the lot.

It was a bit cloudy and chilly, but not bad. Bev got to see Southwoods for the first time. Let's home for sunnier weather and a bigger group Tuesday the 7th at Center Trails.

That was a long stroll! But we got to see the famous brick piles! Thank you all for coming. I had a great time and hope you did too.

Sorry, today's walk is cancelled as a result of me being sick. I'm sorry.

All the fat bikers created a nice trail for DeeDee and I to hike. It was nice and firm. We saw coyotes, a partially frozen Walnut Creek, and all sorts of snow-covered everything. We simply forgot to take a picture of ourselves. Let's remember that at our next stroll, March 3rd at Grandview.

Very brown and tan, but we saw the river, cool fungus, hornets nest, and possum! We had to walk flat footed on sections of the low trail that were muddy due to freeze/thaw, but overall a great February stroll.

Fourmile Mountain Bike Park is “a soft surface trail system oriented towards recreational mountain biking, hiking, trail running, and groomed trails for winter fat biking” in the wooded land north of Copper Creek Lake. Park in the gravel lot along Washington Avenue (no sign) off Williams Street. We will leave from there at 10:00 a.m.

We will head north on old 42nd and enter the trail system. We will turn right and take the trail to the other side of the creek. Then we will hike up and down the Against the Current trail and return around the outer loop (Hydro). I estimate the total mileage will be about 2.1 miles.

DeeDee and I agreed to let Dave set the pace today. Quite brisk—both the pace and the weather! But we made it. Let's hope February 3rd at Fourmile is a little nicer!

UPDATE SATURDAY 7:30 AM: Upon further review of the weather (and input from participants) this stroll is canceled due to bitter wind chills.

Let’s visit the South Sycamore Trails! The trailhead is in the parking lot of the Polk County River Place building at 2309 Euclid Ave, in Des Moines. Meet by 10:00 a.m. at the large trail map in the southeast corner of the lot.

We will head north and take the left fork onto the Owl Trail. We will loop around the Jason Walker Raceway and return. It will be about 1.8 miles.

Thank you for showing up for a brisk stroll! The trails were in really great shape—nicely frozen without being icy. Let's hope we get just good conditions next Tuesday at Sycamore South.

Thanks for putting up with the ice today. At least the weather and company were good! Maybe we'll get dry trails on the 30th as we stroll at Center Trails?

Let’s return to Grandview Park. It is a 60-acre park with several parking lots. Park along East 32nd Street just north of Guthrie Avenue. We will leave from there at 10:00 a.m.

Our walk will use the Grandview Nature Trail and paved roads in the park to make a loop. The loop is about 1.7 miles.