Polk

Skip Navigation LinksHome > Counties > Polk > Parks > Great Western Trail > Activities

Great Western Trail

 
Biking Biking at Great Western Trail
This 16.5 mile recreational trail begins near Water Works Park in Des Moines and ends in the Warren County town of Martensdale. It is named for the Chicago Great Western Company whose trains operated on this line from 1892 to 1968. Visit our website for further information: www.leadingyououtdoors.org
Geocaching Geocaching at Great Western Trail

Geocaching has become a very popular activity for individuals and families to participate in. Geocaching is an entertaining adventure game for GPS users. The basic idea is to have individuals and organizations set up caches all over the world and share the locations of these caches on the Internet. GPS users can then use the location coordinates to find the caches. Once found, a cache may provide the visitor with a wide variety of rewards. All the visitor is asked to do is to leave an item if they decide to take something from the cache. Visit geocaching.com for more details.

Polk County Conservation permits geocaching in keeping with its mission to provide opportunities for safe recreational activities. Geocachers are welcome to place a cache in PCC lands as long as they comply with the requirements of the geocache permit.

Trails & Hiking Trails & Hiking at Great Western Trail
This 16.5 mile recreational trail begins near Water Works Park in Des Moines and ends in the Warren County town of Martensdale. Parking is available at the trailhead on Valley Drive/George Flagg Pkwy. near Park Avenue. The trail has a asphalt surface.
143