Lamoni Trail-East Opens to Trailhead
September 28, 2023
Launch the media gallery 1 player(Pictured: With the Stables Event Center and pond in the background, Jim Schwab enjoys a ride on the improved Recreational Trail – East.
Paving the Lamoni Recreational Trail – East has been completed to Birch Street connecting it to the Amish Country Store / Iowa Welcome Center Trailhead. The Stables Event Center offered to straighten out the trail and fix pavement issues that had occurred when a semitruck drove on it. Because the pond was silted in and a bit overgrown, the center cleared it and made it bigger and more visually appealing. To do this, it had to be drained on the south side which meant a small section of the trail needed to come out. The center wanted to improve the attractiveness of the location to make it into a destination site for special events like weddings and graduations.
The Lamoni Recreation Trail and Graceland University loop features over six miles of paved trails providing a gentle, relaxing outdoor ride, walk, or run. The Lamoni trail highlights a combination of beautiful, tree-lined vegetation with open fields, and follows an abandoned railroad corridor incorporating an earthen dam and highlighted by two reconstructed trestles.
Landscaping on both sides of the trail and around the pond will complete the project. “The East Trail repair is finally complete,” City Administrator Barb Stuck said. “We are thrilled to have it open again. The improvements to the area have tremendously improved the aesthetics to the East Trailhead.”