Yankton Trails BY KELLY HERTZ The Press & Dakotan OK, not all trails lead to Yankton. But the Meridian Trails System in the Yankton area is among the best around — and it’s only getting better. There are more than 30 miles of trails in the local system, providing hikers and bicyclists plenty of room to roam and plenty of places to go if you want to ditch your car for something simpler and self-propelled. And the system is only getting bigger. The newest addition includes, most prominently, the opening of the Meridian Bridge to pedestrian traffic. The two-year conversion project was completed in the fall of 2011, allowing the bridge — which served as a main automotive artery across the Missouri River for more than eight decades — to continue to serve the region for many more years to come. Planning and work are under way for the establishment of a park on the south end of the bridge as well as a trail on the Nebraska side that will extend out to Gavins Point Dam. This should bolster the bridge’s new role as a must-see (and must-experience) link in Yankton’s trail system. Another new trail section is set to open along Deer Boulevard west of Yankton along Highway 52. This will add a two-mile section to the trail system and will create a loop when hooked up with a trail connecting with the Chief White Crane Campground along the tailwaters below Gavins Point Dam. These two additions make an outstanding trail system even better. The Meridian Trails System runs around Yankton and through the Lewis and Clark Recreation Area. It can carry you from Paddlewheel Point on the east edge of Yankton to the Summit Activities Center on the city’s north end, and out to the Gavins Point Dam, the Hobie Cat and Midway beaches, and numerous other points of interest. Along the way, you’ll find the Auld-Brokaw Trail, which carries you through the heart of Yankton along Marne Creek; the Lewis and Clark Lake Trail; the Toe Road/Lake Yankton Prairie Trail and much more. The trails range from the paved to the primitive. Some can accommodate hikers only, while others can handle all sorts of pedestrian traffic. There’s also the Missouri National Recreational River Water Trail, a water trail that runs from below Gavins Point Dam west of Yankton down to Sioux City, Iowa. This 79-mile trail covers the Missouri National Recreational River down to Ponca, Neb., plus the extended reach from Ponca to Sioux City. For more information, visit www.mnrrwatertrail.com. For more information on all of Yankton’s trails, visit www.seeyanktonsd.com. You can also check out a description of the trails on the center map of this publication. 40 – VISITORS GUIDE • YANKTON, SOUTH DAKOTA VISITORS GUIDE • YANKTON, SOUTH DAKOTA – 41