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RACCOON RIVER VALLEY TRAIL
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The Raccoon River Valley Trail in is celebrating its 20th anniversary this fall, and a special free event on Wednesday evening, September 16, in Perry, will showcase and celebrate the trail's history, as well as the current extension projects and future economic development possibilities.
It's "20 Years of the Raccoon River Valley Trail," with a special panel discussion by the three trail managers and county conservation directors who have been involved with the RRVT from the beginning - Mike Wallace of Dallas County, Joe Hanner of Guthrie County and Dan Towers of Greene County.
The event will be held at 7 p.m. at the Center for Town/Craft at 1124 Willis Avenue in downtown Perry, across the street from the renovated Carnegie Library.
"We encourage communities all along the RRVT to send representatives, and we hope trail users will attend, too," said Chuck Offenburger, of Cooper, RRVT Assn. secretary.
The first section of the RRVT opened October 7, 1989, with a 34-mile route completed in 1990 from Waukee to Yale. A 12-mile addition from Jefferson south to Herndon was completed in 1997. In 1999, Herndon and Yale were linked.
The 56-mile-long hard-surfaced RRVT now crosses three counties and nine communities, and it also connects to the trail system that runs on into the Des Moines metro area.
A 33-mile "North Loop" addition to the RRVT is under construction now, and will soon bring the trail's total miles to 89 - making it one of the longest hard-surfaced rec trails in the nation.
The number of annual trail users is expected to triple from about 125,000 now.
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©Guthrie Center Times 2009
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