The Sac & Fox Trail, in southeast Cedar Rapids, offers an opportunity to be immersed in nature without leaving the city. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
By Cindy Hadish/for Radish Magazine
Watching a bald eagle gracefully soar over meandering waters is one of the prime reasons to take a wintertime walk on the Sac & Fox Trail.
The trail stretches just over 7 miles along the Cedar River and Indian Creek in southeast Cedar Rapids, where you can feel immersed in nature without leaving the city.
My sister introduced me to the Sac & Fox when she worked as a naturalist at the Indian Creek Nature Center, which the trail traverses and is the portion I tend to use.
Since then, I’ve returned with family and friends for cross-country skiing, but have also found a quiet solitude in hiking there, on occasion, when the powdery snow is deep and few people are using the trail.
A bridge adds rustic charm to the scenery along the Sac & Fox Trail in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
In this area, towering trees line one side of the Sac & Fox, with the other following the soft curves of Indian Creek, passing under a bridge that adds rustic charm to the scenery.
The Nature Center’s website notes that the Sac & Fox, a relatively level trail with pressed limestone surface, was designated as Iowa’s first National Recreation Trail in 1975. Hiking, cross-country skiing, horseback riding and bicycling are permitted, with motorized vehicles prohibited, helping to preserve the sense of peace found there.
In warm weather, trail users can view a variety of native wildflowers and birds, including my favorite, the blue-feathered indigo bunting, as well as deer and other animals, in all seasons. The Nature Center offers a resting point and a shop to buy local honey, maple syrup and more.
I have yet to see otters sliding down snowbanks into the creek, as others have observed, but witnessing a bald eagle in flight, or peering from lofty tree branches, has been a high point and an awe-inspiring reminder of the importance of wildlife refuges such as these.
Read about other trails from Radish writers at the Radish Magazine.
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