North Raccoon River Water Trail

The North Raccoon River Water Trail enables recreational paddlers to enjoy the North Raccoon River from Vogel Access in northern Sac County to the junction with the Des Moines River in Polk County, a distance of about 180 river miles.

There are nine public access areas along the North Raccoon River in Dallas County. The furthest upstream access in Dallas County will be the Dawson Boat Ramp. This area will be constructed in the near future. About 6 miles downstream is the Perry Boat Ramp located on the north side of the HWY 141 bridge at the west edge of Perry. The next stop is Spring Valley Access 4.5 miles down the river located at the east side of County Road P58. Another 5.6 miles takes you to Snyder Access which is on the south side of County Road F31 west of Minburn. Highway 44 Access is found 4.8 miles downstream. The next access is the Kinnick-Feller Park Access which is 6.4 miles on downstream. This access is only .7 miles upstream from Adel Island Park. Both are found at the north edge of Adel. Traveling 7.5 miles downstream from Adel Island Park brings you to Puckerbrush Access. This access is located on the west side of County Road R16 about two miles north of Van Meter. Booneville Access is the last access in Dallas County, and is another 8.1 miles downstream.

All of the above public accesses have a concrete boat ramp. At each access there is a sign with the name of that access and the distance to the next access. There are also signs that point out any nearby amenities. Each bridge over the North Raccoon River has a sign visible from the water on the upstream side of the bridge that names the road the paddler is going under and tells how far it is to the next access.