The Johnston Brief
The Neal Smith Trail is the paved backbone of central Iowa's trail system: about 26 car-free miles running from Des Moines up the Des Moines River, along Saylorville Lake, to Big Creek State Park. It runs right through Johnston, with a local trailhead near the Saylorville dam. Here's where it goes, what you'll see, and how to ride it from town.
The Neal Smith Trail is a roughly 26-mile paved trail running from Des Moines north along the Des Moines River and Saylorville Lake to Big Creek State Park. It's paved the whole way, good for biking, running, skating, and walking year-round. It has a Johnston trailhead near the dam and ties into Johnston's local paths, including the Beaver Creek Greenbelt and Trestle to Trestle trails.
The trail runs north-south along the Des Moines River. At its south end it connects to the John Pat Dorrian Trail, giving a safe, scenic route from downtown Des Moines out to the lake. Heading north, it passes through Johnston, hugs Saylorville Lake and ends at Big Creek State Park, with the Saylorville Lake Visitor Center, near the dam in Johnston, a popular rest stop along the way.
For a metro trail, the Neal Smith is scenic, moving through river bottomland, shaded forest, oak uplands, and prairie, often with the lake in view. It's paved and generally friendly for road bikes, hybrids, strollers, and inline skates, though the stretches along the lake are genuinely hilly, so it isn't all flat. In winter it's used for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.
The Neal Smith Trail has a Johnston trailhead near the Saylorville dam, so from town you can link onto it and reach Saylorville and Big Creek to the north, or ride south toward Des Moines. It ties in with Johnston's own network, the Beaver Creek Greenbelt, Johnston Interurban, and Trestle to Trestle trails, so you can string together a longer car-free ride. See our Johnston trails guide for the full map, and the Saylorville Lake guide for the beaches, ramps, and campgrounds along the way.
You can hop on at multiple points, including the Johnston trailhead near the dam, spots near Saylorville and Big Creek to the north, and along the river toward Des Moines. Bring water for the longer stretches, plan an out-and-back that matches your legs (it's a long trail with real hills near the lake), and check the Army Corps for any closures near the lake, since water levels and construction can affect access. For a nearby marquee ride, pair it with the High Trestle bridge out by Madrid.
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About 26 miles (some sources say 24.5 to 24.8), from Des Moines along Saylorville Lake to Big Creek State Park. It's paved the whole way and has a Johnston trailhead.
Yes, it's paved the entire route, good for road bikes, hybrids, strollers, and skates, plus running and walking.
From Des Moines (connecting to the John Pat Dorrian Trail downtown) north through Johnston along Saylorville Lake to Big Creek State Park. Johnston has a trailhead partway along, near the dam.
Yes. The Neal Smith Trail has a Johnston trailhead and runs north to Saylorville and Big Creek and south toward Des Moines, all car-free, connecting to Johnston's Beaver Creek Greenbelt and Trestle to Trestle trails.
The trail is named for Neal Smith, a longtime U.S. Representative from Iowa. The Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge near Prairie City also carries his name.