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Gerome Clark HouseGerome Clark House · Photo: Dan Breyfogle · CC BY-SA 3.0
A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Arnolds Park

26% of Arnolds Park’s land is conserved, and virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park

Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 3.8 miles of mapped trail cross Arnolds Park, 2.1 per square mile of land. 26% of Arnolds Park’s land is conserved, about 299 acres.

Among the top 1% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Conserved land
26%
299 acres · of 1.8 sq mi of land
Trails
3.8 mi
2.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
97 ac
105 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.1 mi
0.7 mi lanes · 2.5 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
5 beaches · 4 boat launches

What kind of outdoors town is Arnolds Park?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Land that stays wild26% of the land is conserved; a typical Iowa town, 3%.Parks close to homeVirtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park.A trail town2.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 94% of U.S. towns.A beach town4 named beaches on the map.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Arnolds Park have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Arnolds Park is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. All four inputs put Arnolds Park near the top nationally; the share of residents near a park ranks highest.

A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Arnolds Park’s overall grade.
Conserved land26% of the land · typical IA town 3% · U.S. 4%ATrails2.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (4 mi) · IA 0.3 · U.S. 0.4APark land105 acres of park per 1,000 residents (97 acres) · IA 19 · U.S. 13AParks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · IA 91% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Among the top 1%
LessMore

Water is 10% of Arnolds Park’s area (0 of 2 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 24%.

How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would still be A+. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.

PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →

The map

Conserved land, trails & bike routes

Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.

1234
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk

Pick a walk

Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Spring Run Complex Waterfowl Production Area

Nature preserve
74 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Lower Gar Lake Complex

Nature preserve
48 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Arnolds Park

Park
8 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Central Park

Park
5 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 10 parks & preserves
Arnolds Park8 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Directions
Central Park5 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Directions
Lower Gar Lake Complex48 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Directions
Spring Run Complex Waterfowl Production Area74 acres
Pillsbury Point State Park5 acres
Kory Halbur Marsh Wildlife Management Area4 acres
Sawmill Park2 acres
Minnewashta Access1 acres
Directions
Abbie Gardner Park1 acres
Directions
Gull Point State Park1 acres
Who protects it

299 conserved acres

26% of Arnolds Park’s land. Water is left out: Arnolds Park has 1.8 square miles of land and 0.2 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Arnolds Park’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

State natural resources190 ac
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service152 ac
County18 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits8 ac
Town or city5 ac
Joint1 ac
Resource Management Area · 152 acState Other or Unknown · 127 acLocal Park · 31 acState Recreation Area · 30 acState Conservation Area · 30 ac
The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Dickinson County Waterfowl Production Area
Resource Management Area
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service152Restricted
Minnewashta Lake
State Other or Unknown
State natural resources121Open
Lower Gar Lake Complex
State Conservation Area
State natural resources42Open
Dickinson County Trail
Local Park
County18Open
Lower Gar State Recreation Area
State Recreation Area
State natural resources11Open
Arnolds Park
Local Park
Land trusts & nonprofits8Open
Unknown Park
Local Park
Joint6Open
Gull Point State Park
State Park
State natural resources5Open
Spring Run Wetland Complex
State Conservation Area
State natural resources4Open
West Okoboji Lake
State Other or Unknown
State natural resources2Open

4 smaller protected places aren’t shown.

Things to do

11 places to go in Arnolds Park

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Beaches in Arnolds Park
Arnolds Park Public Beach
Directions
Gilleys Beach
Directions
Kruses Beach
Directions
Sunset Beach
Directions

Plus 1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.

Trails & water

2 lakes & rivers

Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Lower Gar LakelakeMinnewashta Lakelake
Biking & sports

3.1 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

0.7 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
2.5 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
1Baseball
1Basketball

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

1 place on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.

History →
Pillsbury Point State ParkStructure · listed 1993
About it
When to get out

The walking year in Arnolds Park

NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.310.411.813.414.715.415.113.912.410.99.69.0
High (°F)242942576980838074604329
Rain (in)0.70.81.63.34.24.83.73.73.22.31.40.9

January is the driest month (0.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.8 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Arnolds Park →

Next door

Arnolds Park and its neighbors

Arnolds Park has the most mapped trails of the 3 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Arnolds Park3.8 miWest Okoboji0.2 miMilford0.0 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Arnolds Park26%2.110599%+A+
Milford3%under 0.11299%+B−
West Okoboji— not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Arnolds Park

Where can I hike in Arnolds Park?

The longest trail networks: Lower Gar Lake Complex, 0.1 miles; Arnolds Park, 0.2 miles; Central Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Arnolds Park is conserved land?

26% of its land, against a typical 3% for an Iowa town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.

Are dogs allowed on Arnolds Park’s trails?

Spring Run Complex Waterfowl Production Area and Lower Gar Lake Complex don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Arnolds Park?

3.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.7 of painted or protected lanes and 2.5 of off-road paths.

Is there public land near Arnolds Park?

16,950 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Arnolds Park or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 238 of them inside the city line.

How much outdoors does Arnolds Park have?

Among the top 1% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

Trail talk

Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Arnolds Park neighbors.

Town Square →
Share a tip
Sources

Where this page comes from

Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →