The High Trestle Trail Bridge in central Iowa

© Kelly van Dellen/Getty Images Plu

Take a hike for Trails Day. Hiking the High Trestle Trail

The unique 130-foot-tall bridge you see here is just a small part of a longer, 40-kilometre trail that connects five small towns in central Iowa. The High Trestle Trail is a rail trail—a decommissioned railroad track that’s been turned into a multiuse trail—and it follows the path of an old Union Pacific Railroad freight line. The rail-to-trail movement began in the 1960s when many railroad tracks began to be removed and people noted that the relatively flat rail corridors were perfect for hiking and biking trails.