Iowa trails · Pleasant Creek Trail
Pleasant Creek Trail
A 4.5-mile out-and-back in Iowa, with 7 ft of climbing. Reaches Jackson Lake and other lake destinations. Managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
Elevation profile
Essentially flat — no sustained climb anywhere along its 4.5 miles.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Jackson Lake (lake)
- Western Pond (lake)
Getting there
Pleasant Creek Trail access — parking nearby. 42.18332, -90.35457 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 5:56 a.m., the sun rises at 6:25 a.m. and sets at 7:37 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 8:06 p.m. (CDT) — 13 h 12 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 9.1-mile round trip takes roughly 3 h 23 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 9:48 a.m. — 9 h 49 min before sunset.
Loop options
- Pleasant Creek Trail — 4.5 mi loop, 28 ft gain