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Portion of Raccoon River Valley Trail’s “North Loop” is completed between Dallas Center and Waukee, and the ceremonial ribbon-cutting and grand opening is set for this Saturday, October 15. The addition of that 5.5-mile stretch of new concrete brings the RRVT’s total current mileage to 69.5 — on our way to 89 a year from now!

DALLAS CENTER, Iowa, September 29, 2011 — Another new section of the Raccoon River Valley Trail has been completed — 5.5 miles of new concrete surface between Dallas Center and Waukee on the southeast end of the RRVT — and a ceremonial grand opening has been set for Saturday, October 15.

City officials in both communities are joining with the Dallas County Conservation Board in inviting trail users to participate in a ribbon-cutting at 9 a.m. that day, at the point where the trail crosses 270th Street about midway between the towns. There will be a delegation leaving Dallas Center at 8:30 a.m. to walk, run or ride bicycles on the trail to reach the celebration site. A similar delegation will leave Waukee at 8:40 a.m.

The event is being called “Ride to the Ribbon,” and you can get more details and a nice history of the RRVT by clicking here.

Chuck Offenburger, of Cooper, a member of the board of directors of the Raccoon River Valley Trail Association, will be emceeing the brief ceremony. There will be comments by officials of both cities and the conservation board.

The new section of trail is part of the “North Loop” project, which is adding 33 miles of new trail to the 56 miles that have been available on the RRVT for about 15 years. Eight miles of the new loop were completed in 2010 between Dawson and Forest Park, which is located just southeast of Perry. The rest of the north loop is scheduled for completion in 2012, and that will add Minburn and Jamaica to the list of RRVT communities.

So, if our math is correct, the completed length of the RRVT right now — with the addition of the Dallas Center-Waukee link — is 69.5 miles.

Trail users can have a chance of winning up to $300 in gift certificates from businesses in Dallas Center, by signing up between now and November 15 for the drawing, which will be held Nov. 16. You can sign-up by going to Harvest Moon, Bakers Pantry or Korner Kone in Dallas Center. A half a dozen different businesses are offering gift certificates of at least $50 each.

Public’s interest in the Raccoon River Valley Trail is “greater than ever” according to RRVT Association board members who staffed the organization’s display booth at the big Adel Sweet Corn Festival. Everyone is excited about the new “North Loop” being completed, and everybody wants to know when the new High Trestle Trail can be connected to the RRVT.

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RaccoonRiverValleyTrail.org is your online guide to a 56-mile-long paved trail along the branches of the beautiful Raccoon River through Greene, Guthrie and Dallas Counties.

You will experience the communities of Jefferson, Cooper, Herndon, Yale, Panora, Linden, Redfield, Adel and Waukee. And, going east, the RRVT connects with the extensive trail system in Iowa’s capital city of Des Moines

Thus, your trail experience will take you from a very vibrant metropolitan area out into some great small towns, which are located in one of the most productive agricultural regions of the world. Along your way you’ll find the food, beverages, entertainment, scenery, accommodations and ambience that will make every visit to the RRVT a memorable one.

We expect to be adding a 33-mile-long “North Loop,” with much of the work happening in 2011 and 2012. That will include the communities of Dallas Center, Minburn, Perry, Dawson and Jamaica.

All that is why we believe the RRVT is “becoming one of America’s best recreational trails.”