FAYETTE - The river runs through it, and an enterprising Upper Iowa University student wants to map it.

The Volga River snakes and bends its way through a 5,500-acre state recreation area that also shares the waterway's name. The proximity to Fayette lures a number of people and college students to the Volga, which is why Upper Iowa senior Jenni Determan decided to put pen to paper and detail the river's course.

"It's a little bit more like you're actually out in the wilderness," Determan said.

Determan's goal is to eventually establish a five-mile water trail on the river starting at Klack's Island Park in Fayette and ending at Heron Road, on the other side of the recreation area. The trail should make the river a bit more safe and help paddlers if they get lost, she said.

"If they knew there was a highway just a few hundred feet away, they would get out," Determan said.

Scot Michelson, park ranger for the Volga recreation area, agrees that signage will make the area safer for paddlers.

He said people get lost about four or five times a year. This last year, a group of paddlers got lost and a young girl with them fell into the water. She was in poor condition when the group finally got a cellular call out, but the signal was so weak the enhanced 911 system couldn't find where the call was coming from.

Katherine McCarville, an Upper Iowa assistant professor of geosciences, said the main benefit to paddlers will be signage that comes as part of the trails program. Determan is working with McCarville on the trails project.

The signs may be used to point out landmarks or demarcate miles on the trail or upcoming hazards, like a dangerous river bend known as Dead Man's Curve.

"There is a whole constellation of safety issues that would be helped by better information," McCarville said.

To help with the plan, Determan and McCarville applied for funds from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources' Water Trails program. There are five trails designated by the DNR, none of which are near the Volga.

McCarville said they aren't sure if funding is available for the trail yet. Determan sent an application in at the end of January.

One knock against the plan may be that the Volga doesn't get the same amount of flow as other waterways in the area, like the Turkey or Upper Iowa rivers.

"The problem with the Volga River is that it's so sporadic," Michelson said. "It's either good or it's bad."

Another group also has put in an application for a water trail on the Turkey River, which will compete with the Volga plan for funds. Determan should hear whether her application is approved by the end of February, she said.

Contact Josh Nelson at (319) 291-1565 or josh.nelson@wcfcourier.com.