13 Mile Bike Ride Lake Manawa Trail

Although not planned, we did set a new distance record for us of 13 miles on this bike ride in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Nice!

Lake Manawa Council Bluffs

A Nice Day to Explore the Lake Manawa Trail on Bikes

Yesterday’s weather was just right for a bike ride, and we loaded our bikes on the car and headed across the Missouri River to Council Bluffs in Iowa, and the Lake Manawa State Park to ride the Lake Manawa Trail.

The Lake Manawa trail is a little distance from the lake itself, but there is a glimpse of the lake itself every now and then from the trail. Although others were bicycling on the road along the lake, we preferred the safety of a trail without cars.

There are several parking spots near the trail, and we selected one towards the eastern portion of the park because I wanted to ride the Lake Manawa trail up to the Wabash Trace Trailhead, a place we had never seen, and this location was closer.

Vicky on the Lake Manawa Nature Trail

Scenery Along the North Keystone Trail

Not very far into our ride, we noticed a side trail off to the right, with a sign calling it a nature trail. We pedaled our bikes that way to see what it was like, and it was a pleasant, but short, sidetrip.

Soon we were back on the main trail.

Lake Manawa Trail By Wabash Trace

Lake Manawa Trail By Wabash Trace

Once the Lake Manawa Trail leaves the confines of the state park, the scenery isn’t nearly as nice, but it’s still a nice ride. The above picture (taken on the way back from the Wabash Trace Trailhead) has Interstate 29 in the background, and shows the very worst hill we had to go up the entire day. In other words, we encountered no bad hills.

If you are at this spot on the Lake Manawa Trail and hoping to get to the Wabash Trace, you’ll take a right and head up a fairly quiet road a little ways, over some bumpy railroad tracks, and soon be at the Wabash Trace Trailhead.

Wabash Trace Trailhead Parking

Wabash Trace Trailhead Parking

The trail head at Wabash Trace had a couple porta potties, a drinking fountain, bulletin boards, and some picnic tables under a roof shelter. It wasn’t too crowded, but bike riders were coming through quite frequently as we stopped here long enough to have something to drink in the shade.

Heading back down the Lake Manawa Trail and through the state park, we were met by an oncoming tandem recumbent three wheeler, tadpole style, with two wheels in the front. It looked like a fun bike to ride.

Lake Manawa Trail Bridge

End of the Lake Manawa Trail

All too soon, we reached the other end of the Lake Manawa Trail, and if you come to this bridge over Indian Creek, that’s it, you’ve reached the end of the trail.

However, Indian Creek Trail connects to the Lake Manawa trail at this location, and we headed right (the only possible way) to explore a bit of the Indian Creek Trail. Scenery on this trail wasn’t too exciting after just getting out of the state park, but it was okay, rural countryside with a creek not too far away on the right side of the trail.

Indian Creek Trail Problems

A Problem With Indian Creek Trail

Before long we were starting to get tired, and, seeing a bridge in the distance, Vicky asked if we could turn around when we reached the bridge. That sounded like a good idea to me.

Parking here for a few minutes, we noticed bike riders carrying (rather than riding) their bicycles under this bridge, so the trail must have been pretty bad with the construction. Note: this picture was taken August 17, 2008.

Turning around and biking back to Lake Manawa Trail, we were both quiet and concentrating on pedaling, a sure sign for us that were were getting worn out.

We took a short break at the Indian Creek bridge, shared a bottle of Dr. Pepper, and felt more refreshed as we were back on the much more scenic and enjoyable woodsy Lake Manawa Trail.

Heading down the trail, I was the first to spot some dark colored living creatures of some sort gathered on the trail ahead of us. Vicky soon noticed these creatures, too. Getting closer to them, we discovered they were wild turkeys, six total.

As we drew closer, four of them headed off the right side of the trail a few inches, while the other two stayed on the trail. Having no idea if these turkeys would be still or dart in front of us, we slowed down as we approached.

When we were about ten feet from these wild turkeys, one of the ones on the left wandered across the road, but the other stayed where it was as we passed between them, perhaps a foot away from us on either side.

I really wanted to stop and get my camera out to take their picture, but I had the feeling that if we stopped they would disappear before I was ready to take their photo, so instead we just enjoyed the experience of being so close to them for a brief period of time as we biked past them.

We made it back to the car, loaded the bikes back on the rack, and headed for home.

By the time we got back home we were starving, and after offloading our bikes we headed to Subway Sandwiches, where we both ordered turkey sandwiches.

This 13 mile bike ride didn’t leave us with as many sore muscles as we anticipated

Length of this bike ride: 13 Miles

Total miles biked together in 2008: 108.28 Miles

Date of this ride: August 17, 2008

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