The Cedar Valley Nature Trail is located on the abandoned railroad right of way of the Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Northern railway, an interurban railroad system that was established in the early 1900s.  The right of way was known as the "Cedar Valley Road".  It progressed from a Waterloo horse car line in 1885 to a diesel powered line from Waterloo to Cedar Rapids in 1957.

The most important era of the line was between 1912 and 1957 when it provided a progressive electrical powered interurban means of transportation.  During this period it offered elegant high speed passenger runs between Waterloo and Cedar Rapids, as well as nationally significant freight operations.

In the 1950's passenger traffic had declined and ended, but freight traffic continued.  Regularly scheduled passenger service ended on February 20, 1956.  In 1957, the line was converted from electric to diesel locomotives.  By 1974 all regularly scheduled train operations had ended and service was provided only on an "as needed" basis.  There was little need for rail service and the tracks eventually became inoperative due to lack of maintenance.

By this time the right of way's ownership had changed several times.  In 1956 the Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Northern became the Waterloo Railroad owned by the Illinois Central and the Rock Island railroads.  In 1968 the Rock Island sold its one-half interest to the Illinois Central.

In February 1977 the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad, successor of the Illinois Central, was authorized by the Interstate Commerce Commission to abandon the southern 47 miles of the right of way between gilbertville and Hiawatha, after which the rails were removed.

On April 2 1997 the County Conservation Boards of Black Hawk, Buchanan, Benton, and Linn counties, in cooperation with the Iowa Conservation Commission (Iowa DNR) sponsored a public meeting.  This was to determine the extent of the public interest to convert the abandoned right of way into a nature trail.  As a result of that meeting, all four Conservation Boards passed resolutions expressing an interest in purchasing the right of way.

However, due to political pressure from surrounding landowners, support from the County Conservation Boards in  Black Hawk, Buchanan and Benton Counties decreased.  Furthermore, the state effectively blocked the Iowa Conservation Commission from pursuing the project.  By 1980 only the Linn County Conservation Board was still supportive of the earlier resolution.

Meanwhile a private citizen's advocacy group was organized- the Iowa Rails to Trials.  They publicized the benefits of the right of way for the trail purposes and organized hikes and work parties.  They raised the necessary funds to allow the Linn County Conservation Board to lease the southern 16.5 miles of the right of way from the railroad company in 1980 for use as a nature trail.  The volunteers spent time clearing overgrown vegetation, planking the original trestle support structure for bridge crossings and repairing fence lines.  Once the leased part of the trail was opened to the public, an enthusiastic constituency of volunteers and funders developed.

In spite of the fact that the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad Company, still owner of the right of way, also was supportive of the efforts to convert it into nature trail, the corridor could not be purchased yet due to lack of adequate funds.

The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, a land conservancy, provided expertise in land negotiations and located contributors to assist in purchasing the corridor.  This resulted in the creation of the Interurban Trail Inc., a group of business people from the Waterloo area who raised money specifically to purchase the right of way with the intention of turning it into a nature trail.

Opposition of local landowners was still strong.  This resulted in the burning of some bridges, bulldozing of some parts of the corridor, dropping trees across the corridor, and placing with nails protruding upward below the trail surface.  Legal challenges were also issued, including an appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court.  However, slowly the public support grew stronger in favor of a nature trail.

By 1983 the northern 5 miles between Gilbertville and Evansdale had also been abandoned and the complete 52 mile right of way had been purchased by Old Interurban Trail Inc.  The private nonprofit group continued to build the recreation trail northward.  Because of its location within the flood plain of the Cedar River, the trail was named the Cedar Valley Nature Trail.  In the Fall of 1984 the trail was officially opened by Governor Branstad with festivities taking place in all towns along the trail.

Since then ownership of the trail has been transferred to local government to ensure continuous management and maintenance of the 52 mile corridor.

Looking back in history, the creation of the Cedar Valley Nature Trail has not been easy and many hurdles had to be overcome.  However, the controversy certainly seems to have paved the way for similar trails in Iowa.

For More info about the Cedar Valley Nature Trail contact:

Black Hawk County Conservation Board
2410 West Lone Tree Rd.
Cedar Falls, IA  50613
319-266-6813

or

Linn County County Conservation
1890 County Home Rd.
Marion, IA
319-298-3505

Source: History of the Cedar Valley Nature Trail and the Gilbertville Depot Brochure