Planned new section of the Wet Weather Trail under construction

The Lee County Charitable Fund awarded Friends of Shimek a grant of $5,500 in 2018 to be used in a joint project with the DNR Shimek staff to add a section of 2,000 feet of Wet Weather Trail that will join two existing sections of the Wet Weather Trail (WWT) on the equestrian trails in the Lick Creek Unit. This is needed because currently equestrians ride on the Iowa Highway 2 right of way to make this connection. This could potentially be highly dangerous to both a rider and horse and/or for drivers on the road. In addition, this section as currently ridden is not Shimek Forest property and thus can not be maintained by DNR Shimek staff—instead it is DOT property. The new WWT section will provide an entirely new section of trail located safely back in the woods on Shimek Forest property to solve this problem.

Attached is a map showing where this new trail section is under construction.

 

 

  So far, the trail has been mapped and most state approvals have been obtained.  Currently, the Archaeology Review is pending. Until it is approved by the state, the project can not be finished. Requests have been made repeatedly for the past eleven months by Forester Byrd but to no avail at this time. We remain hopeful that the final approval will be accomplished soon. DNR staff have cut the trees as shown in the photos below.



DNR staff cut the trees in the path of the new section of Wet Weather Trail that is under construction.



The red line shows the path that the new trail section will follow, with tree stumps showing.  These will be removed once the Arch Study approval is obtained.

When the final Archaeology Office approval is obtained, the DNR crew will extract the stumps, install two culverts and spread rock purchased with the LCCF grant and with FOS funds.

Some time will be needed for the ground and rock to settle before it is used as a wet weather trail, but it should be usable under dry conditions in early summer. Once a final schedule is determined, an announcement to riders will be made. In the meantime, when you see the trail with stumps cut, know that FOS and the DNR Shimek crew are anxiously awaiting the state Archaeology Office approval that will allow them to finish the project.