On a hot summer day in Iowa, it’s easy to find bicyclists buzzing along trails and paddlers floating down rivers and lakes. Many of these bicyclists, paddlers and anglers contribute to the local economy by visiting shops to buy gear before a ride, gassing up their car or relaxing at a restaurant or brewery. 

Iowa’s recreational trails are more than a fun attraction, they’re economic engines. 

Iowa state and business leaders are hoping that these bicycle and water trails will prove to be harbingers of growth and economic development, similar to cranes and skyscrapers.

Iowa Confluence Water Trails, launched in 2021 as a public-private partnership, is developing 80 improvements along 150 miles of rivers and creeks statewide. Organized and guided by groups including the Great Outdoors Foundation, Central Iowa Water Trails Consortium, Capital Crossroads, Catch Des Moines, Des Moines Area MPO, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Polk County Conservation and the Greater Des Moines Partnership, ICON attracted 250,000 users and generated $20 million in economic impact in its first year. Partners are hoping to build on that success.

Recent projects include new and improved river access points in Central Iowa and the designation of Beaver Creek and the Des Moines River as state water trails, adding to Iowa’s 1,241 miles of designated water trails, as well as the groundbreaking of the Hubbell Trailhead near Gray’s Lake. 

Economic development helps build stronger communities by creating jobs, increasing income, helping businesses and improving quality of life. Sometimes economic development is as simple as road improvements. Other times, projects take years-long planning and public-private investment, such as the long-standing effort to build and connect bicycle trails across the state. 

The Iowa Bicycle Coalition released an economic impact report in February estimating the state’s 2,000 miles of bicycle trails create $1.4 billion in gross state product annually. In the Des Moines area, the economic impact is $420 million per year. The trails generate $690 million in wages, leading to $23 million in state income taxes and $11 million in state sales taxes, the report said. 

Projects such as these can give workers another reason to stay in Iowa, and tourists a reason to visit.

Attracting and retaining workers is essential to the economic health of Iowa, where there are 54,253 job openings throughout the state. For the most part, Iowans who can work do; the state’s unemployment rate sits at 3.7%, below the healthy average of 4%-5%. Government and business leaders say it again and again: Iowa needs more workers. 

Highly skilled workers are moving to other states, a phenomenon known as brain drain, at a high rate. In 2023, about 73,176 people moved to Iowa, while 75,032 moved out, according to a study by Consumer Affairs. Iowa ranked 32nd as the most desired state for relocation, the study said.

On the flip side, Central Iowa’s population is growing. The population of the Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Polk, Dallas, Madison, Warren, Guthrie and Jasper counties, grew 17% from 2010 to 2020 and another 6% since 2020, from 711,239 people to 753,913.

There are 401,774 workers in the Des Moines MSA, and as of February, there were 0.7 people per job opening, according to Iowa Workforce Development data. To expand the workforce, Iowa needs students to stay and out-of-staters to move here, especially as baby boomers continue to retire. 

To attract and keep young workers, communities try to offer what those workers want most. Today’s workforce values economic security, financial independence and affordable housing as well as amenities, such as ways to spend time in nature. Iowa may not have oceans, but it does have an extensive network of rivers and parks. To leverage those assets, community leaders spent many years studying and assessing Iowa’s rivers for viability of economic development projects.

Creating a network of water trails

ICON, akin to the state bicycle trails, aims to create hundreds of miles of recreational trails and access points along miles of rivers and creeks in the state. During the past few months, ICON has opened or broken ground on new river access points in Central Iowa. Eight new access points along the water trails have opened this year, for a total of 15 along the entire system, and there are 50 more in the works.

The designation of Beaver Creek and Des Moines River as state water trails in May helps ensure that rivers and creeks are safe for recreation and promote economic development, leaders said.

In July, the groups broke ground on the Hubbell Trailhead at Gray’s Lake in Des Moines. Once complete, the trailhead, at the Fleur Dam on the Raccoon River, will include recreational amenities designed to improve the economic development assets of the region. The trailhead will feature in-water waveshapers, a boat ramp, fish passage and more.

While ICON handles project management and coordination, Iowa DNR officially designates waterways as water trails and provides support to the water trail system through maintenance and other means.

Stephanie Oppel, executive director of ICON, said the trails are a boon for the business community as employers seek to attract and retain their workforce.

“Every single business here in Iowa is competing for top notch talent,” she said. “We want to continue to grow the community, grow the workforce, and attract people to Central Iowa, and keep them here once they come. Having incredible quality of life opportunities is really a key piece of that. The business community has really gotten behind ICON Water Trails because it’s a catalyst for so many other things we’re trying to achieve regionally. Getting people out on the water, they are connecting with one another, connecting with nature. They are really caring about the natural spaces around them. ICON creates a sense of community. When people are out and having fun, they also go out and enjoy our great restaurants and bars and shop in our shops.”

At the Hubbell Trailhead groundbreaking, Debi Durham, director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority and Iowa Finance Authority, said ICON projects are part of Iowa’s outdoor recreation sector, which generates $8 billion annually to the state’s economy. She said the trailhead will create a ripple effect of economic development.

“By showcasing our natural beauty and transforming our rivers and waterways into accessible spaces, we’re creating new opportunities for tourism, for small business and workforce attraction,” Durham said. “Think about the ripple effects: new outfitters and kayak rental shops, more visitors staying in our hotels, more foot traffic at nearby restaurants and shops, more reasons for people, especially young professionals and families, to choose Iowa as their home.”

Many businesses, like Hubbell Realty, have donated to the public-private projects to help make them reality. Hubbell Realty has committed $2 million to ICON. 

“The spot we’re in today has just undergone an extreme transformation,” Rick Tollakson, CEO of Hubbell Realty, said at the trailhead event in July. “As you look behind me, we have our Gray’s Station project and also this direction is the site of the future Iowa soccer stadium. It’s really a true testament to what’s happening. This is also another part of the master planning concept and I think it’s going to add a lot to the vitality and the workforce attraction of our community.”

ICON is working on its Harriet Street project, which is about a mile south of the Iowa State Capitol. The project is adding several improvements to the area, such as boat access, kayak launches, parking and walkways for users and an urban wetland for stormwater runoff.

The river trails not only offer a place to have fun, they help create a sense of place, leaders said. Oppel said the water trails can reconnect Iowans and visitors to the local waterways.

“We want to bring people back to the water to reconnect with our river roots here in Central Iowa. We’ve been disconnected for some time,” she said. “I grew up in Central Iowa, I was born and raised here. I’ve lived here almost my whole life, and I’m used to driving across the rivers, we do that all the time. Our city flag is the bridges. We celebrate the water, but we celebrate going across it and the connections across. We really want to turn back toward the river and continue to activate that, because it’s unbelievable. Our organization is all about bringing people together, public and private, to try to activate as much as we can, to create as much fun as we can, for people who live here and who are going to come live here.”

Oppel said the top priority of ICON is safety, whether it’s achieved through clearing out riverways to make them more accessible to paddlers or promoting the use of safety equipment like life vests.

“[We’re] making sure that we are modifying the dams to make them passable so that people can actually utilize the rivers that run through Des Moines and the area,” she said. “The best thing that somebody can do [in] the water is wear a life jacket. We continue to promote safety through jurisdictional engagement around those things.”

Rich Leopold, executive director of Polk County Conservation, said kayakers and canoers are going to be able to “ride the river” through ICON sites along the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers. He spoke of the river access site that was recently installed at Brown’s Woods along 63rd Street in West Des Moines.

“Now you’re going to be able to go all the way through once this is completed, to hit up with the Des Moines River and the Harriet and Scott street sites that are already made, so you get to run the river with kayaks and canoes. That’s never happened before,” he said.

Leopold added that there will be fish hatches along the rivers, which has never been done before. Investment in the ICON access points opened the door to other improvements at local parks, including hiking trails, stream bank remediation and timber stand improvement, a forestry practice that involves thinning out vegetation to improve tree and forest health.

Great Outdoors Foundation CEO Hannah Inman said such projects support conservation and water quality as well as economic development.

“We really believe that recreation is a catalyst for conservation, and if people can see it, touch it, experience it, they’re going to care about it and invest in it,” she said.

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ICON Water Trails at a Glance

Launched: 2021 as a public-private partnership
Scope: 80 planned improvements along 150 miles of rivers and creeks in Central Iowa
Economic impact:

•  250,000 users in 2022
•  $20 million in economic output in one season
•  Supports Iowa’s $8 billion outdoor recreation sector

Access Points: 15 completed; 8 new this year; 50 more in development
Recent Milestones:

• May 29: Beaver Creek and Des Moines River designated as state water trails (1,241 miles statewide)
• July 16: Groundbreaking at Hubbell Trailhead at Gray’s Lake (with waveshapers, boat ramp, fish passage)
• Aug. 27: Ribbon cutting at Harriet Street project with new boat launches, walkways and an urban wetland

Partners: ICON, Great Outdoors Foundation, Greater Des Moines Partnership, Iowa DNR, Catch Des Moines, Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines, Des Moines Area MPO, Capital Crossroads
Safety measures: Dam modifications, cleared riverways and life jacket promotion