Hiking the Western Skies Scenic Byway: Audubon County

Trail at Littlefield Recreation Area

The hiking opportunities in Audubon County allow you to enjoy a quiet, contemplative hike in Iowa's third-least populated county. Littlefield Recreation has three miles of trails through woodlands and prairie. T-Bone Trail is a paved 21-mile linear trail used by bikers, runners, and walkers. Nathanial Hamlin Park also has hiking trails, as well as a viewing deck to observe the elk that live at the park. If you are looking for a leisurely walk after eating Iowa's original #1 pork tenderloin at Darrell's Place in Hamlin, walk the John James Audubon Birdwalk in Audubon. Keep reading our newest installment in the Hiking the Byways series.

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Littlefield Recreation Area

​Manager: Audubon CCB
Location: 41.558068, -94.777342
Trails: 3 miles
Camping: Yes
Amenities: Water, restrooms, shelters
Dog-friendly: Yes, on leash
Hunting: About 100 acres are provided for public hunting. These areas are clearly marked.

Littlefield Recreation Area is Audubon County Conservation Board's largest and most popular park.  It began in 1965 with 40 acres of timber and 20 acres that were developed into a recreational area.  In 1975 and 1976 the park's sized increase by 385 acres due to the Troublesome Creek Watershed Project.  Two dams were built along Troublesome Creek forming the lake that is used for recreational purposes and flood control. 

There are roughly 3 miles of maintained hiking trails. The park road is also a great spot to walk or ride a bike. The timber area provides an excellent area to view and photograph wildlife & wildflowers. These trails are available for use as cross country ski trails in the winter.

​Littlefield Park is located six miles east of Exira on County Road F58, just a few miles north of Interstate 80.  It is approximately an hour from Des Moines and an hour and a half from Omaha, Nebraska.

Click to open a larger version in a new window

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T-Bone Trail

Manager: Audubon & Cass CCBs
Location: Trailheads in Audubon, Brayton, Exira, and Hamlin
Trails: 21-mile point-to-point
Camping: No, but camping is available near the trail
Amenities: None on the trail
Dog-friendly: Yes, on leash
Hunting: No

​The T-Bone Recreation Trail runs from the city of Audubon into Cass County.  The trail totals 21 miles.  Sixteen of these miles are located in Audubon County.  The trail begins in Audubon and goes south through Hamlin, Exira, Brayton, and into Cass County.  Eventually, the trail will go into Atlantic, Iowa.

Click to downland the trail brochure

The trail is hard surface making it great for biking, walking, running, and rollerblading.  Most of the trail is asphalt with a few miles in the middle made out of concrete.  The T-Bone Trail is a former railroad right of way; purchased with the help of the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation.  It is named for the T-Bone event that originated in the 1950s in Audubon when the farmers all loaded up their cattle on to a train and rode with them to market in Chicago.

T-Bone Trail

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Nathanial Hamlin Park

​Manager: Audubon CCB
Location: Highway 71, Audubon, IA 50025​
Trails: Yes
Camping: No
Amenities: Restrooms
Dog-friendly: Check with the park
Hunting: No

Picnic areas, hiking trails, south of Audubon on Highway 71, across from the T-Bone Trail.

Audubon's old old county home was built in 1890 for indigent persons of the county. In the 1970s the ACHS acquired the house (and other buildings) to create a museum. The facility is collectively called Nathaniel Hamlin Park.

Early members of the historical society created a wonderful museum that tells the story of settlement of the area from 1850 to the present.
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The 2-story brick home has its original floor plan and 1800 sq.ft. of display space including:  large kitchen & pantry, Victorian parlor, and bedrooms. Other room displays: quilt & sewing, military, children's play room, schools, churches, collections (beauty shop), hats & clothing, and the "Audubon" Room -- a collection of birds and animals.The park includes: one room schoolhouse, barns and antique farm machinery. That's not all -- the 10-acre park has live elk & windmill displays, and many picnic tables. Come and spend the day!

(photo by Nathanial Hamlin Park & Museum)

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Hiking the Byways is a regular series by Golden Hills RC&D that features publicly accessible lands open to hiking on the three scenic byways in western Iowa that Golden Hills RC&D coordinates: Glacial Trail Scenic Byway, Loess Hills National Scenic Byway, and Western Skies Scenic Byway. Each blog post covers hiking areas in one county on one of the aforementioned byways. For questions about hiking on the byways, contact Seth Brooks ([email protected]).