BURLINGTON — A trail for walkers and bikers near Burlington is tripling in size thanks to donations and work by volunteers.

Nearly 500 people biked or hiked the newly opened, one-mile North Gorge Trail between October and mid-November last year, The Hawk Eye reported. Workers with Minnesota-based Trail Source are starting to build two connecting mountain bike trails Monday. An additional 2 miles of trail featuring bike jumps and berms will be open to the public at the project’s completion.

“We’re just trying to get outoftowners to come to this part of Iowa. As far as the trail goes, there’s nothing like this in southeast Iowa,” said Will Buhmeyer, trail founder. “This is a multirecreational use trail, and anybody can go on it. That’s the major goal. Get the community outside and exercising and exploring this cool place we have in southeastern Iowa.”