Lake Darling State Park is located in southeast Iowa between the towns of Brighton and Richland along Highway 1. In addition to camping, picnics, and the use of a brand new lodge finished in 2008, the park also features a number of trails through prairies, wooded hillsides, and along the lake shore. (Lake Darling State Park also offers swimming, boating, and fishing, but currently the lake has been drawn down for a 3-year renovation project.) A few days ago I drove down to take a look, and was glad I did.
Although the lake has almost 18 miles of shoreline, one time around only totals some 12 miles. Several loops and branches, however, bring the total up to about 14 miles. The trails are intended for a variety of uses; they are suitable for hiking and running in the spring, summer, and fall, but in the winter they play host to cross-country skiers. As a result, they are rather wide and left natural, with grass rather than packed limestone or dirt. Although not terribly technical in and of themselves, some sections of the trails presented a slight challenge due to recent rains that left them muddy or boggy. More challenging than the terrain is the constant roller coaster ride of small and medium sized hills; only one section remains relatively flat for any length of time. None of the climbs or descents are terribly steep or terribly long, but they kept coming, and combined with the soft terrain they left this inexperienced trail runner exhausted after 28 miles.
Facilities including modern bathrooms and outhouses are available along the trail, although only the latter are open during the off-season. The trail does bring its users to a dam and, below that, a place to cross a babbling brook at least a foot deep and ten to twelve feet across. Rather than ford it this time I chose to reverse course and go the long way around to the other side, but in the future I might give it a shot when the water level is a little lower.
All in all, Lake Darling provided a nice change of pace (literally) from my normal routine. Unfortunately I only have access to two real trails in the area: two and half miles of trail in one location, less than that in another. Both are more technical, but for a full morning of trail running Lake Darling was more than enough trail for me. I’ll definitely be back.