Iowa trails · Equestrian
Equestrian
A 2.5-mile out-and-back in Iowa, with 128 ft of climbing. Reaches Pilot Knob. Managed by the state.
Elevation profile
Most of the climbing sits in the first third — 68% of the ascent, between mile 0.0 and mile 0.8. It gives back about 111 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Pilot Knob (summit)
Getting there
Equestrian access. About 40 min drive (24 mi, 2 of them unpaved) from Mason City. 43.25534, -93.54629 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:57 a.m., the sun rises at 7:26 a.m. and sets at 6:33 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 7:01 p.m. (CDT) — 11 h 07 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 4.9-mile round trip takes roughly 1 h 57 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 9:23 a.m. — 9 h 09 min before sunset.
Loop options
- East-West + Equestrian — 3.2 mi loop, 674 ft gain