Polk

Carney Marsh


Biking at Carney Marsh Gay Lea Wilson Trail travels along Carney Marsh. The Gay Lea Wilson Trail, when completed, will extend for approximately 35 miles throughout the eastern and northern parts of Polk County. The trail will also make up the lower portion of a 110-mile Central Iowa Trail Loop that will connect existing parks, trails, and businesses in five counties. Polk County Conservation Board currently owns and manages the five mile trail segment between Pleasant Hill and Altoona and the recently constructed 2.5 mile trail segment between Ankeny and Des Moines. Parking and access to this new stretch of trail is available at Carney Marsh in Ankeny or Sargent Park in Des Moines. For more information on this newest 2.5 mile connection, please see this link Gay Lea Wilson Trail.
Geocaching at Carney Marsh Geocaching has become a very popular activity for individuals and families to participate in. Geocaching is an entertaining adventure game for GPS users. The basic idea is to have individuals and organizations set up caches all over the world and share the locations of these caches on the Internet. GPS users can then use the location coordinates to find the caches. Once found, a cache may provide the visitor with a wide variety of rewards. All the visitor is asked to do is to leave an item if they decide to take something from the cache. Visit geocaching.com for more details. Polk County Conservation permits geocaching in keeping with its mission to provide opportunities for safe recreational activities. Geocachers are welcome to place a cache in PCC lands as long as they comply with the requirements of the geocache permit.
Other Activities at Carney Marsh Birding is a popular activity among marsh visitors. Seasonal birds frequent the marsh, including herons, yellow-headed and red-winged blackbirds, yellow-throated warblers, and various waterfowl.