Woodpecker Trail — Attraction in Penn Township

A very nice trail with great views of the lake and plenty of people. It's very easy to complete with only a few steep ascents if you choose to do them. You can walk some gradual descents to where the majority of the trail is and then turn around and head back up the same way you came if you're unable to undertake steeper hills. For me, the link-up with Squire Point trail makes it seem longer than it really is, and I enjoyed that. I briskly walked the entirety of both trails, with several photo stops and others to admire the fossils everywhere in the limestone, in under 1.5hrs. The trail is clean, some muddy spots and some uneven rocks/roots exposed. This was early November, so I'm sure the trail is much different throughout the year. A couple of tiny waterfalls were present, large enough to make sounds but not much more. First half of hike smelled like dog feces from those who didn't clean up after their dogs, and those who then tracked it along the trail. That was the only part I didn't like. Get out there! Go see some nature, and enjoy...

Nice trial system on the south side of the Iowa river. The river is wide enough here that it looks like you are on lake Coralville.

There are a bunch of connected trails here - we went in Woodpecker and Mushroom trails. The trail is nice and wide, which is great because there is poison ivy but you generally don’t have to worry about it.

Trail goes up and down a decent amount depending on where you are. There are some nice cliff lookouts on the river that are beautiful. The woods are clear as well in some parts with lovely views.

We went on the trail with a 2 and 4 year old. Hilly areas would have been difficult for the 2 year old (if they weren’t in my pack). 4 year old did fine.

They had a restroom in the...

Trail was in great shape with a little mud from the rain earlier that morning. I went for a dusk to night late run and the weather was perfect. There were a few people coming back I saw as I was going out. I was alone on this trail and it was a nice and quiet run. Trail has some technicality to it and a headlamp is needed in low light conditions. The mix of elevation, bridges, and views make for an awesome run in nature that is so close to Iowa City. All Trails said the trails were 5 miles but I only was able to hit 4.8 according to my app and that was taking extra off shoots that were not part of the Alltrails map. Nice run and I...