Crews have finished construction central Iowa’s first whitewater recreation site in the Des Moines River .
It’s part of the ICON Water Trails project and in what’s known as Principal Point in downtown Des Moines. ICON’s Anna McDonald crews have completeed the waveshaper for surfing and rafting, and a habitat channel for fish to pass through.
“Obviously the in-water piece being kind of the more tricky and massive undertaking for the project, so seeing that complete is a really big step towards getting this site open,” she says. The regional water trail system has been under development since 2014 as a way to add more fishing and paddling access in the area.
McDonald says the Des Moines feature is unique. “That will create these new opportunities, like surfing and rafting and whitewater kayaking in that area; something that we don’t have in central Iowa right now,” McDonald says.
McDonald says crews will begin tuning and testing the waves before the site opens to the public in spring 2027.
