Raccoon River Valley Trail is a rail trail running 56 miles from Waukee, Iowa, to Jefferson, Iowa. In 2013, an additional 33.1-mile north loop was completed on the RRVT, making the RRVT nearly 90 miles of paved trails and having a paved interior loop of more than 72 miles . The 39-mile portion of the trail from Waukee to Herndon is part of the American Discovery Trail, which runs between Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware and Point Reyes near the Bay Area of California. In Iowa, the American Discovery Trail will be concurrent with U.S. Bicycle Route 50 .The recreational trail runs through the counties of Polk, Dallas, Guthrie, and Greene in Iowa. It is a paved trail, mainly asphalt, though three sections are concrete. One concrete section extends from Jefferson south for four miles . Another concrete section is a twelve-mile section connecting Linden, Panora, and Yale. Constructed during 2010-2013, the 33.1-mile North Loop, which runs between Dawson and Waukee through Perry, Minburn, and Dallas Center, is the third concrete section.In downtown Perry on Saturday, June 1, 2013, the grand opening of the new 33 mile north loop included food and beverage vendors; a bicycle poker run from 9:00 until 12:30 with cards at Waukee, Dallas Center, Minburn, Forest Park Museum, Perry, the bicycle bridge over the North Raccoon River west of Perry, Dawson, and Jamaica. See the north loop Grand Opening flyer for more. Between Yale and Ortonville, which is a trail head 3 miles east of Adel, the 31 miles of trail is very scenic and mostly tree covered. The north loop between Herndon and Waukee, is wider, nearly flat, and is much more exposed to the sun and wind. This trail in Dallas Center may include a bicycle tunnel under a widened Highway 44.By 2007, the conservation board directors estimated that more than 125,000 people use this trail each year. In 2014, the Dallas County Conservation Department estimated over 330,000 trail users of the RRVT annually.
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