November 16, 2023
As ICON Water Trails prepares to close out another productive year connecting water, communities, and people, we wanted to provide an update on the much-anticipated downtown portion of the project. Earlier this year, we broke ground on Principal Point at the Scott Avenue dam, marking the official…
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February 28, 2022
For all of ICON’s existence, its downtown run has only been hypothetical. While many regional sites already exist and are ready for recreators, the vision for the rivers at the heart of Des Moines has yet to be fully realized. With groundbreaking at several locations on the horizon and…
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October 21, 2021
Our partners at the Great Outdoors Foundation are hosting the first-ever Wild Prairie Showdown, a pseudo pageant featuring four everyday advocates competing to raise funds, awareness and support for conservation and outdoor recreation initiatives throughout Central Iowa. We sat down with Joey Taylor-Moon, Vice President of Marketing…
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September 29, 2021
Years ago, when the Greater Des Moines Water Trails and Greenways Master Plan was adopted and ICON was officially set in motion, the group of masterminds leading the charge knew there had to be a strategy behind the progression of the project. Between dangerous low heads dams, a robust business…
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August 31, 2021
As we re-imagine our relationship to our creeks and rivers through ICON, so too will we reimagine the role of the arts in our community. In 2020 the National Endowment for the Arts awarded a grant to our region for Shoreline Signals. Shoreline Signals will use public…
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July 30, 2021
What you need to talk about is how you’re bringing together a confluence of different cultures. – BIPOC Interviewee Des Moines is not only the confluence of two rivers but also the confluence of different people, cultures, identities, and lifestyles. While creating a unified and connected water trail system…
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June 30, 2021
As a certified canoe and kayak instructor for the Iowa DNR, I have seen it all. People buy their first boat and head to the river before understanding the environment they are about to enter and without the skills they need to remain safe and anxiety-free. Here are “Todd’s Top…
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April 27, 2021
As I rowed down the river, I stopped to watch a deer run along the shore. There was something majestic about it, not that I had never seen a deer before, but that I’d never viewed one from this perspective. This was my first time sculling on the river with…
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February 16, 2021
I have been canoeing and kayaking since high school and have lived in the Des Moines area since the summer of 1994 but had never had an opportunity to be on the Des Moines River until 2016 when I became a member of Des Moines Rowing (DMR). I learned…
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February 2, 2021
People with disabilities can often have poor physical health. For one Iowa organization, this means putting extra emphasis on finding recreational opportunities that include those with disabilities and creating fun ways to get active. Easterseals Iowa and Can Play have become a major proponent for the Central…
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