Mighty Mount Trashmore: Fun Views in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

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As a slowly evolving city girl, I have to admit that I am still very hesitant when it comes to outdoor adventures. I don’t like bugs, I don’t like the elements, and I don’t mess with wild animals, which has worked well for both parties so far. But urban hiking is a nice in-between that makes the outdoors accessible, but I’m not too far out of my comfort zone. When I visited Cedar Rapids, Iowa, they had one of my all time favorite urban hikes – Mount Trashmore.

For the last three years or so, I’ve made an effort to visit a new Midwest state to continue learning about the history, communities, and landscape that make up the USA. This year of 2025, that state was Iowa.

After passing through Iowa 80 for an unexpected lesson on truck driving, my road trip landed in Cedar Rapids. During my 3 days in Cedar Rapids, I briefly heard about a certain “Mount Trashmore” and honestly…from the name alone I was intrigued.

Turns out, Mount Trashmore is an urban hike with a super unique backstory, hence the fun name. Whether you’re looking for more things to do in Cedar Rapids or you just like reading interesting things about interesting places, here’s my experience!

Things to Know

Getting to Mount Trashmore is fairly straightforward. There’s a GPS pin on Google Maps/Apple Maps/maybe Waze. It’s also literally the tallest point in Cedar Rapids, so even if it’s not pinned on your navigation system of choice, just drive towards the big hill.

The strange part is that the closer you get, the less it feels like you should be there. Don’t be alarmed when you see the gate for Cedar Rapid’s Solid Waste Agency Just a peak under the rug (no pun intended), Mount Trashmore actually used to be a giant landfill and is still adjacent to recycling sites. So…you’re going to see (and potentially smell) that.

The hours for Mount Trashmore are managed the same as the recycling center as they are behind the same company’s gate.

Hours: Monday-Friday 8am-4pm; Saturday 8am-12pm

So as long as you come between those times, you’re good to go! Keep driving until you reach the turn off for the hike. There is a small (free!) parking lot that holds about 15 or so cars, but I don’t think you’ll have a problem most of the time. It is a popular hike for older and retired folks, so it’s never really empty, but it’s also not super crowded or packed.

Once you park, head through the visiting building as all guests must check in at the self-kiosk. It’s super easy and has multiple languages and mostly just a form to keep track of the number of visitors for safety and community engagement.

Also in the building, there are a few tables if you want to have a picnic or just take a break before or after the hike. You’ll also find bathrooms here and a water fountain and refill station. When I visited, there was also an employee onsite available to answer questions.

It was a cute lil visitor station. I’m not sure how often they switch up the visitor map, but we added the first pins from Portland on this one! Shoutout to Oregon!

Hiking Mount Trashmore

Now that you’re all checked in, your water bottle is full and your bladder is empty, it’s time to hike! Now technically there are three Mount Trashmore trails: Stumptown Trail, Overlook Trail, and the Trashmore Trail. The Trashmore trail actually starts from the top and is a downhill only trail for bikes, so we’ll touch on that one later.

The Overlook Trail is a multi-use trail that includes bikers and walkers and goes in a slight curve up the hill to the top of the overlook. This trail is 3,400ft (appx. 5/8 mile) and is the shortest way to the top of Mount Trashmore. So if you’re short on time, this is the way you wanna go. It is a dirt path, but it is fairly flat. Folks with accessibility needs can check in at the visitor building for a pass to drive up the Overlook Trail to get to the ADA parking spot at the overlook.

So watch out for potential cars, whether ADA parking or maintenance vehicles, on the Overlook Trail.

The final and last hiking option is the Stumptown Trail. This one is for walking and running only, no bikes or strollers! This trail is 5,000ft (appx. 1 mile). This is the “longest” trail at Mount Trashmore and in my honest opinion the most scenic. The trail has board walks and stairs as well with some steep sections, so keep that in mind for your abilities.

For our hike, we decided to go up the Stumptown Trail, and then come down the Overlook Trail. So pick works best for your abilities and itinerary. A few things to remember before you set out on your hike:

• All trail users (bikers & walkers) MUST CHECK-IN at kiosks in recreation building.
• Stay on trails! Off-trail use is prohibited.
• Dogs are welcome, they must be leashed at all times! 
• Bike helmet use is strongly recommended!
• When the building is closed, the trails are closed.
• Use trails at your own risk. Agency is not responsible for injury or damaged equipment.
• No driving to the top of Mount Trashmore (Visitors with a handicap placard are allowed to drive to the top, stop at recreation building for staff assistance)
• No smoking & no alcohol.
• Due to time constraints, walkers will need to be on trails 30 minutes before closing time. 
• 2 inch or wider tires are recommended for Trashmore Trail.  Mountain bikes or fat tire bikes are recommended.

As you’re walking along the trails, either the Stumptown or Overlook, have these super informative placards about Mount Trashmore’s history and transformation. They were so interesting and compelling to read and learn from as I made my ascent.

So instead of detailing every step of the way in painstaking detail for the rest of this post, I’m going to share a bit of the info with you here!

Addressing the elephant in the room….no Mount Trashmore was not always a lovely grassy urban hiking trail. In the late 19th century, the area that is now Mount Trashmore was the Snouffer Quarry, later renamed Martin Marietta Quarry. It was a 140ft deep limestone quarry operated for more than sixty years.

As Cedar Rapids grew, so did its need for infrastructure. In 1965, the since decommissioned quarry was purchased by the city to construct a new landfill. Residents back then could head on down to the landfill, which was essentially just a big hole from the quarry, and dump any ol’ thing in. Federal and state dump regulations were not enacted until the 1970s, so not only were landfills a blend of WHATEVER THE HECK, the sites were also usually unattended.

I don’t even want to image the Fallout New Vegas typa chaos that went down then.

Now, y’all, the land that is now Mount Trashmore is not far from the city. AT ALL. It took a few decades, but eventually the garbage pile grew higher than the Czech Village neighborhood down the street, about 208ft taller in fact. I just knowww that downwind was horrid. The landfill closed in 2006, and briefly reopened after a flood to deal with the debris, and then permanently closed in 2013.

Today, Mount Trashmore is managed by the Solid Waste Agency and in 2018, this former landfill was opened as the outdoor space you see today. Since Mount Trashmore is estimated to hold about 6.4 million tons of waste under this lovely grass mound, it is still technically a waste management site. And we’re hiking it 🙂

I’m not gonna lie, I did get whiffs of…landfill smells along the trail, but it was brief and not really an issue at all. It’s very easy to forget Mount Trashmore used to be a landfill because the facelift was so well done! The longer trail does have a number of switchbacks, but terrain wise its not too bad. You don’t need hiking specific shoes or anything.

You’ll come across the Trashmore Trail as you go up the hill, though I didn’t see any bikers going down on my visit. Doesn’t look toooo wild though so worth checking out even if you are a beginner mountain biker in my unskilled opinion.

I also passed a porta-potty on the way up. I didn’t peak inside so I don’t have insight on how often/well it’s serviced, but I didn’t smell it from the outside so it’s probably not horrible.

And before I knew it, I was at the top! It was only 1 mile, so it wasn’t too bad, but it was now lunchtime and the weather was starting to heat up so I was glad to make it to the outlook.

I do think that it’s one of the best views of the city, so for that alone it’s great to hike Mount Trashmore, but it was also really nice to just get outside and move my body. After catching my breath and taking in the landscape, it was time to head back down. This went a lot faster, especially since I took the shorter Overlook Trail.

Conclusion

Overall, Mount Trashmore was such a fun and unique thing to do in Cedar Rapids. I love that the city reimagined what was probably an eye (and nose) sore for the city and make it into something both residents and visitors can enjoy.

I’ll probably say this again, but I was super impressed with how involved Cedar Rapids is in their community. It seems like there is always something going on in the city, so I definitely recommend checking the city’s event page to see if there’s anything happening you’d be interested in. But for those looking for something quieter with a bit of movement, check out Mount Trashmore!

Is this an activity you’d be interested in? Let me know in the comments below!

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