Category: Events

  • Walking Week 2026

    Walking Week 2026

    One Week = 7 Days = 6 Walks + 1 Activity = LOTS OF FUN!

    For all of our GROUP WALKS, please arrive 15 minutes early to sign the waiver form and to pay the walk fee, if listed. Exact change is very much appreciated!

    Monday, May 18, 10:00 a.m.: First Avenue Trail – Trash Pickup & Lunch. Registration has ended but you can still come if you let Sandy know at spldngs@aol.comFree Event!  (If you want AVA credit for the walk, bring $4 and your books for stamping with you.) Meet at Cochran Park, 100 S.21st St. Council Bluffs, IA. The First Avenue Trails Parks & Paths Volunteer Program will provide supplies plus $5 coupon to Railway Inn at 115 S. 12th St. for after the event. It is recommended that you bring your own water bottle, sunscreen, work gloves, insect repellent, and sturdy close-toed shoes.

    Tuesday, May 19, 5:30 p.m.: Stinson Park Group Walk.   Free Event!  Meet at Stinson Park in Aksarben Village, 67th & Mercy Road, Omaha, NE. We’ll gather in the open area northeast of the playground. Parking available on Mercy Road. Join us after the walk at Inner Rail Food Hall, 1911 S. 67th St. for dinner and conversation.

    Wednesday, May 20, 10:00 a.m.: Dundee Group Walk. Free Event!  Meet at Memorial Park’s Rose Garden, using Robert Storz Drive from 6005 Underwood Ave., Omaha, NE. We’ll walk through the Happy Hollow and Dundee neighborhoods.

    Thursday, May 21, 5:30 p.m.: Little Italy Tour. Registration required by noon on May 14th:  https://forms.gle/2rCqW7KNGdAGHHc47   Free Event! $5 cash donation requested to help organize Little Italy programs and educational student exchanges. Meet at the 11th Street Promenade Arch at 11th and Farnam Streets in Omaha, NE no later than 5:15 pm to sign in. Prepare to walk a couple of miles as you tour sites in the Old Market and Little Italy neighborhoods, sampling delicious Italian cuisine at various stops.  NO DOGS ALLOWED. 

    Friday, May 22, 10 a.m.: The Wall That Heals. Free Event! Meet at Lewis Central High School, 3504 Harry Langdon Blvd, Council Bluffs, IA. The Wall That Heals is a memorial honoring the more than three million Americans who served in the U.S. Armed Forces in the Vietnam War, bearing the names of the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice. Standing at seven-and-a-half-feet tall and 375 feet long, the Wall That Heals is a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. It is accompanied by a mobile education center. Stop for lunch after at Tastee Treet, 13996 Wabash Ave. Our seasonal walking route starts from the Tastee Treet and continues on the Wabash Trace; consider stretching your legs after lunch. (Walk fee of $4 applies.)

    Saturday, May 23, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., off the trail by 1 p.m.:  Standing Bear Lake. This is a traditional Volksmarch. $4 per walker, AVA credit available.  To find us at Standing Bear Lake, use Entrance #4, located on N. 132nd Street, between Fort and Ida Streets in Omaha, NE. (The entrance is closer to Ida to the north than it is to Fort.)  We’ll be at the picnic shelter close to the lake at the playground at the end of the road from the entrance. A group walk will be led at 9:30 a.m. Come anytime between 9 and 11 to register and set out on the trail. A 10k option is also available. 

    Sunday, May 24, 2:00 p.m.: Old Stone Arch Trail Group Walk in Shelby, Iowa$4 per walker, AVA credit available. Meet at Agri-Symbol Park at 12 East St, Shelby, IA 51570 around 1:45 p.m. to register and pay. If interested in carpooling meet at the JC Penney parking lot off of 24th St. in Council Bluffs at 1 p.m. The walk goes along a picturesque cemetery, and the Old Stone Arch Nature Trail, dotted with spring wildflowers.

    • As always, our walks are held rain or shine, so dress for the weather!
    • Unless otherwise stated, leashed dogs are welcome on our walks.
  • June 2025 Events

    June 2025 Events

    Our planning committee is still putting together some fun events for July and August. In the meantime, be sure to put these on your calendar!

    June 7th at 10 a.m. Mandan Park, 6215 S 13th St, Omaha, NE 68107.  Meet at the picnic shelter near the newly opened nature center to sign the waiver and walk the trails. 

    This hidden park is impossible to see into from 13th Street, which runs along its western edge. Its seclusion made it a great place to escape the city and experience nature. The park has been extensively renovated over the last couple of years. The trail we will walk follows the park’s level contour along the now closed road that used to run through the park.

    *The trail rating for the route is 1B
    *Strollers will be able to handle the route.
    *Leashed dogs are welcome on the trail.
    *$4.00 per walker (exact change appreciated); children under 12 free

    Glenwood Walk

    June 27 – 28, starting at 2 p.m. in Corning, Iowa (plus 3 more walks). Four group walks in central Western Iowa: Corning, Shenandoah, Glenwood and Stanton, in partnership with Iowa’s Walking Club. Our club sponsors the Glenwood seasonal walk, so we’re very excited about this opportunity to show off this gem of a walk! Glenwood offers a 7 km and a 10 km option, while the other group walks are 5 km (10 km option available in Stanton). Please see our printable flyer* for all of the details about each of the walks, as well as the buffet dinner and hotel reservations in Shenandoah on Friday and the pancake feed on Saturday morning in Glenwood: Four County walking weekend

    *The trail rating for the routes are either 1A or 2B
    *Strollers are okay on some routes
    *Leashed dogs are welcome on the trails
    *$4.00 per walker for each walk (exact change appreciated) 

    *If your printer will print duplex (2 sided), then choose “Flip on short edge” for the best results.

  • Joslyn Tour – April 3rd – 2 time slots with openings available

    Joslyn Tour – April 3rd – 2 time slots with openings available

    Good news/bad news about this event.

    Good news – we had 134 people sign up.

    Bad news – we had to break that crowd into two visits – one at the original 10 a.m. and the other at 1 p.m. Sandy, our organizer for this event, reached out to everyone that was signed up to make that work.

    More bad news – Sandy didn’t hear back from 30 people – either the registration had a bad email address or Sandy’s email went to Spam or the registrants chose not to respond. **Those 30 people have had their registrations canceled.**

    Good news for everyone else – Sandy and the Joslyn have made arrangements to add 30 more people at 10 a.m. and 30 more people at 1 p.m. First 30 people to respond for each time get in.

    10 a.m. – Morning Openings

    1 p.m. – Afternoon openings

    If you registered before and didn’t hear from Sandy, you need to register again.

  • Save the dates for all of our 2025 walks!

    Save the dates for all of our 2025 walks!

    All of the walks that we have planned so far are listed on our Walk and Event Listing page, also accessible through our Walks and Events menu. Each event has a handy link at the bottom of the page to add it to your Google, iCalendar or Outlook calendars. You can even subscribe to our entire event calendar by using the “Subscribe to Calendar” button in the bottom right side of any Walk and Event Listing page.

    We’ve even created a booklet, suitable for printing, at our 2025 Walk Booklet page. Please note that the booklet will not be updated during the year; you’ll have to grab a pencil and mark up any printed copy as things change. And we already have a couple of changes in the works!

    Our first walk of the year will be our traditional Soup Walk, to be held in the hills of Florence, one of Nebraska’s oldest cities and now part of Omaha. All of the details are available at https://nebraskatrailblazers.com/event/annual-soup-walk-5k-and-10k/ Grab a couple of cans of soup, your walking shoes and we’ll see you there!

  • Lincoln Year Round Walk featured in magazine for renters

    Lincoln Year Round Walk featured in magazine for renters

    A resource for renters in the Lincoln area, Rent.,  asked about our Lincoln walk, available year-round to any walker that would like to see Lincoln on foot. Here’s their article 4 Unique Things to Do in Lincoln, NE | Rent. For those visiting Lincoln, there are a lot of other things to do, so check out the article!

    Rent is a subsidiary of Redfin.com

  • New walk just added!

    Wednesday, March 20th: Women’s History Month Walk at The RiverFront

    Join The Trailblazers for this free event. We’ll walk through Gene Leahy and Heartland of America Park and on to Lewis and Clark landing as we learn about significant women in local, national and world history. These women have contributed to our history through arts, activism, science and politics to name a few. We hope to see you there.


    Meet at The Arch 11th & Farnam at 10:45. Start walking at 11:00 a.m. rain or shine. Free event. Leashed dogs and strollers welcome.

  • November – December 2023 newsletter

    Our latest newsletter is now available. Click here to start reading: November – December 2023 Newsletter

    A couple of things to emphasize from the newsletter:

    • Elections for our 2024 Club Officers and 2023 Walker of the Year will start online on November 20th.  Look for your email from netrailblazers@gmail.com. The link is good for two adult club members in the same household. Those who cannot vote online may vote at the December 4th club meeting. All nominees are running unopposed, so unless a nomination “from the floor” is made during voting, voting in person will be limited to either a “yes” or a “no” by voice vote. No ballots will be printed or mailed.
    • Our December 2nd Lights Walk, starting at KANEKO at 4 p.m. looks to be a huge event, based on feedback we’re seeing on Meetup and Facebook. Can you help by bringing cookies? Can you help staff the event? A SignUpGenius link to volunteer was previously sent out. If you missed it, just drop us a line, letting us know how you’d like to help.
  • September – October 2023 newsletter, plus a month’s worth of events

    Our latest newsletter can be found here: September/October 2023 newsletter

    And here’s a quick look at upcoming events for the next month:

    • Friday, September 15 starting from the Plymouth County Historical Museum in LeMars, Iowa, 10 a.m. to noon start times, 5k and 10k routes available, $3 fee. Dogs and strollers welcome on the trail.
    • Wednesday, September 20 starting from the Leahy Mall, 6 p.m. start of “How Sweet It is!” walking tour. Registrations have closed for this event, but email netrailblazers@gmail.com to be put on the wait list. No fee to attend. Dogs not allowed. Not suitable for strollers.
    • Thursday, September 28 starting from Tom Hanafan Park in Council Bluffs. 5k Group Walk starting at 10 a.m. $3 fee. Dogs and strollers welcome.
    • Saturday, September 30 starting from Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska City. 5k Group Walk starting at 10 a.m. $3 fee. Dogs and strollers welcome on the trail.
    • Saturday, October 7 starting from Peak Performance in Omaha, 9 a.m. to noon start times, 5k and 10k routes available, $3 fee. 5k Group Walk starting at 10 a.m. $3 fee. Dogs and strollers welcome on the trail.
    • Saturday, October 14 starting from St. James Methodist Church in Bellevue, NE, 10 a.m. start time for 5k or 10k group walk. . $3 fee. Dogs and strollers welcome on the trail.

    Now, for the fine print: 

    • You must come 15 minutes early for all group walks to fill out paperwork and pay required fees. 
    • Details, such as starting point addresses and walk ratings can be found on our website at: 2023 Walk Calendar
  • April updates to upcoming walks

    Now that National Walking Week is done (and it was great!), we’re looking ahead to our remaining April and upcoming May walks. We’ve got a few updates to share:

    Saturday, April 22nd at Arrowhead Park in Neola, IA is Earth Day! Pottawattamie County Parks is waiving all entrance fees in celebration. Just bring your $3 walk fee, a hiking stick for the hills and insect repellent for grassy areas. If you’d like to stay after the group walk at 10 a.m., bring a sack lunch and a drink (labeled!) and we’ll store in the fridge for you. Complimentary bottled water is also available.

    Sunday, April 30th is the deadline to register to receive a free t-shirt at the Saturday, May 20th walk in Chadron State Park in Chadron, Nebraska. You’re welcome to register after that date or to just walk-in between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. (MDT) – we’d love to have you, but you won’t get a t-shirt with that $3 walk fee. Register here: https://forms.gle/NfpBHvSHqRUrXjdA9

    Tuesday, May 2nd is a courtesy deadline to register for the Thursday, May 4th Little Italy walking tour setting out at 5:30 p.m. from the Performance Arch at the Gene Leahy Mall (11th & Farnam). Our hosts are providing genuine Italian snacks and you really want them to make enough! Let them know here: https://forms.gle/F5ANvMKfbnNaoDJy8  There’s no fee for the walk.

    Saturday, May 13th is our Mother’s Day Walk at Cunningham Lake, Entrance 3 (N. 96th Street). Show up between 9 a.m. and noon. The walk fee is $3. All mothers will be receiving a small gift. This is a great family walk, with paved trails and great scenery, suitable for strollers and leashed dogs, as well.

  • January/February 2023 newsletter

    The latest club newsletter, full of information about future walking dates and events is available here: January – February 2023 newsletter

    Be sure to join us Friday, January 20th at 2 p.m. at the Gene Leahy Mall (13th & Farnam Streets in Omaha) for a group walk of the Mall on National Take a Walk Outdoors Day. The event is free, so save your change for the parking meters and maybe a nice cuppa something hot for after the walk!