Events and Activities : Grand Opening of Shellsburg’s Prairie Forest Trail

The community of Shellsburg will be celebrating the completion of the Prairie Forest Trail entrance on Saturday, June 25th. Members of the Shellsburg Area Community Group (SACG) will be present that morning between 9:00am and 11:30am to greet people and provide information about the trail project.

There will be pamphlets regarding native plants and the history of the trail and prairie. Plans call for staff from Trees Forever and Benton County Conservation Department to be present for guided walks through the seventeen acre restored prairie.

The creation of the trail entrance came out of Shellsburg’s 2013 participation in the Iowa Living Roadway’s Community Visioning program. The restored prairie had been planted by Shellsburg students and advisors approximately 20 years ago. Creating this entrance at the north end of Pearl Street provided better access to the previously existing trails through the wooded area and restored prairie.

This was a collaborative project with the Vinton-Shellsburg school district giving permission to create the entrance on a small strip of land which they owned. Funds raised by SACG were utilized to purchase materials and SACG member and committee chairman, Jay Herman, organized over thirty community volunteers who worked to complete the project. The city of Shellsburg provided assistance through utilization of city equipment for several aspects of the project.

Work completed during 2014 included building a foot bridge over a waterway, clearing and grading approximately 200 feet of the trail entrance, building two split rail fences, erecting the overhead metal entrance sign, installing a bench and trash receptacle and designing a sign to provide trail guidelines and a map.

During 2015 the trail entrance was seeded and SACG volunteers developed two gardens near the entrance to display a variety of prairie grasses and flowers. Plant identification signs designed by the Benton County Conservation Department were purchased by SACG and placed in the spring of 2016.

So after many hours of planning and work, the community of Shellsburg would like to invite folks to the Grand Opening of the Prairie Forest Trail. The event will occur rain or shine. There is on street parking near the trail entrance or you may park in the Masonic Lodge lot one block south.