Bikers are encouraged to use the trails whenever possible rather than sharing the road with motorists for safety. This is especially true along E Manawa Drive with the heavy truck traffic using that road all day and night. 

INDIAN CREEK TRAIL UPDATE

Council Bluffs, IA, May 30, 2018– The Council Bluffs Trail System will be closing a portion of the Indian Creek Trail south of 28th Avenue. This closure will be effective June 4. The DOT is doing demolition of a I‐80/29 bridge. It is anticipated that the trail will reopen on August 19, 2018. For more information about Council Bluffs Parks and Recreation, please call 712‐328‐4650.

Metro Area Trail Map

Master Trail Plan

There are many entrances to the trails throughout the city parks system. Look for new segments of trails that opened in 2011. The New Railroad Avenue roadway construction from Highway 6/ Kanesville Blvd. to College Road has a new trail that connects the existing Valley View Trail at College Road and Indian Hills Road. The Iowa Department of Transportation in conjunction with the Nebraska Department of Transportation has opened the New Veterans Memorial Bridge which includes a trail over the Missouri River connecting trails on both sides of the river. This will complete a 5 mile Veterans Memorial Trail from the Missouri River to East Manawa Drive.(The last 1 tenth of mile of trail will be construted next year by the Nebraska Department of Transportation on the Iowa side)The east end of the Veterans Memorial Trail at East Manawa Drive has been connected to a new mile long (REAP) trail to the existing trail along lateral Five/ Lake Manawa Trail. 

From the north, the trail flows from Big Lake Park to N. 25th Street, then follows the Missouri River levee onto the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge, past the Dodge Riverside Golf Course to the Western Historic Trails Center. ( A tour of this section offers stunning views of the river, Omaha's riverfront development, and the NEW Rivers Edge Park under development, along with a ride over the Missouri River into downtown Omaha.) 

The trail continues east and south through the Council Bluffs Recreation Complex. South along 24th Street connecting to the Veterans Memorial Trail.On the Veterans Trail you can travel west to the Veterans Bridge( Missouri River) or east to the Indian Creek Trail and ( turn North and the Indian Creek Trail will take you into the Center of the city) turn south to Lake Manawa State Park. Paralleling Mosquito Creek, the trail heads east to the Iowa West Foundation Trail Head Park (aka Wabash Trace), through the Iowa School for the Deaf Nature Area, and along Valley View Drive to Valley View Park, where it turns into a bike lane and then into the Valley View Greenway Trail to McPherson Avenue, then heads north to Iowa Western Community College.From the College it goes west to Railroad Ave and on to Kanesville(HWY 6), east along Kanesville to McKenzie Ave. 

Trails Have Our Respect (THOR) 

Is mountain biking your thing? Then THOR can help! Ride the trails, learn more about trail-building, and take part in work days. THOR maintains the mountain bike trail at Lewis and Clark Monument and Scenic Overlook. 

NOTICE:

AVOID USING THE COUNCIL BLUFFS RECREATION COMPLEX AS A TRAIL HEAD 

The Council Bluffs Recreation Complex, located at 2900 Richard Downing Avenue, adjoins the Council Bluffs Trails system. Occasionally, trail users utilize the Complex’s parking lot as a Trail Head. The Department of Parks, Recreation and Public Property, recommend against doing so.

For security reasons, the Complex’s three parking lots are locked when games are not underway. Due to the weather dependent nature of games, the large number of tournaments with unique hours, the daily change in game schedules due to rain and the inability to estimate even when scheduled games will end, there can be no specific times for the gates to be locked. 

As a result, trail users who leave their cars unattended in the Complex parking lot run the risk of returning to find their car locked in.