News

Take a listen as Hannah Inman, CEO of the Great Outdoors Foundation, talks with Lou and Jackie on Iowa Live on how to enjoy Central Iowa’s water trails. With more than 80 access sites planned to activate 150+ miles of waterways, there is almost something for everyone on Iowa’s waters. To learn more about the [...]

JOHNSTON, Iowa – The City of Johnston and the Central Iowa Water Trails Incubator are pleased to announce a new partnership with an outfitter, Quarry Springs Outfitters, to offer kayak rentals at the recently opened NW 70th Avenue access point along Beaver Creek. “This is another important step in better connecting the City of Johnston [...]

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — West Des Moines residents soon won’t have to travel far to go kayaking, canoeing, or paddleboarding. The Raccoon River Park boathouse is now less than two weeks away from being complete. “People are still going to be surprised when they pull into Raccoon River Park that all of a sudden [...]

Polk County and Bravo Greater Des Moines have received a $125,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to incorporate public art with the Central Iowa Water Trails access points. The “Our Town” grant is awarded to help integrate arts, culture and design activities to strengthen communities by advancing local economic, physical and social [...]

This is really saying something. After all the projects over the decades — Wells Fargo Arena, the sculpture park, Western Gateway, Principal Riverwalk — the four co-chairs of the Central Iowa Water Trails Incubator’s Campaign Advisory Council say the regional effort to line 155 miles of waterways with 86 well-planned fun spots is the biggest [...]

The Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), together with its partners working to implement Central Iowa Water Trails, today announces its receipt of a $25 million grant from the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development, or BUILD, grant program of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The grant will significantly accelerate the implementation of the [...]

Paddlers can now easily take a four-mile ride down Beaver Creek to Merle Hay Road. The first waterway access point of the Central Iowa Water Trails project opened in Johnston on Tuesday. The inaugural launch was held for a new carry-down access site on Beaver Creek. Entering Beaver Creek before the access point was constructed [...]

WATER TRAILS FEATURED IN DES MOINES PARTNERSHIP'S ONEVOICE DSM PODCAST The Central Iowa Water Trails project is the featured topic on the debut of the OneVoice DSM podcast, created by the Greater Des Moines Partnership. The podcast aims at sharing stories surrounding major projects and initiatives happening in Central Iowa as well as highlighting key [...]

REGIONAL WATER TRAILS PROJECT CELEBRATES FIRST COMPLETED ACCESS POINT IN JOHNSTON JOHNSTON, Iowa – The City of Johnston and the Central Iowa Water Trails Incubator have celebrated the opening of the first access point for the regional project. The new carry-down access point on Beaver Creek, located on NW 70th Street, just east of NW [...]

DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) — Improving Des Moines-area waterways could bring in more than $100 million to the regional economy, according to a new study. KCCI reported last summer about plans to transform waterways, and now the numbers show the plans would more than pay for themselves. It was too cold Wednesday to take a [...]