Hit the trails
On sauerkraut, road trips, and the attractiveness of trail networks
A short segment of pedestrian and biking trail in a rural area best known for a sauerkraut festival is about to open to a great deal more fanfare than would seem proportional to the size of the trail itself. But the enthusiasm is high because the stretch of trail is all that's left to complete a loop connecting the High Trestle Trail with the Raccoon River Valley Trail in Central Iowa.
■ The result is a continuous loop of trails that can be ridden for loops of 72, 86, or 118 miles at a time -- all on dedicated pathways. It's a great boost to the quality of life in Iowa, giving people good reasons to be active outdoors, enhancing the profile of the state's natural conservation programs, and bringing intentional (but low-impact) visitor traffic through small communities.
■ America's infatuation with cars has been exhaustively documented, and nothing is likely ever to eclipse the allure of the Great American Road Trip. It's hard to exaggerate just how vast and comparatively wide-open most of the United States remains to this day, particularly by comparison with the familiar allies and friendly countries of Europe.
■ It is a good turn of events that local and regional efforts to build trail networks have earned respect in some of the same ways that four-lane highways have long accrued it: As important features that are generally expected in forward-looking communities. There is still considerable room for growth, but the initiatives in Iowa have gathered a momentum of their own.
