Atkins Roundhouse Nature Trail
Park
65 acres1.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Atkins
8% of Atkins’ 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. 1.7 miles of mapped trail cross Atkins, 1.5 per square mile of land. 84 acres are parks and preserves, 38 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 95% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
8%
54 acres · of 1.1 sq mi of land
Trails
1.7 mi
1.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
84 ac
38 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Atkins?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Atkins have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Atkins is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park ranks highest, conserved land lowest.
A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Atkins’ overall grade.
Conserved land8% of the land · typical IA town 3% · U.S. 4%B+Trails1.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · IA 0.3 · U.S. 0.4APark land38 acres of park per 1,000 residents (84 acres) · IA 19 · U.S. 13A−Parks 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)Ahead of 95%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A to 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.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Atkins Roundhouse Nature Trail, with 1.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Atkins City Park
Park
13 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Primrose Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
54 conserved acres
8% of Atkins’ land. Who manages Atkins’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County54 ac
State Historic or Cultural Area · 54 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atkins Roundhouse Area State Historic or Cultural Area | County | 54 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Atkins
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Atkins
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
4Baseball
2Soccer
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
September is the best month for walking in Atkins
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.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 28 | 32 | 46 | 60 | 71 | 80 | 83 | 82 | 75 | 62 | 46 | 33 |
| Rain (in) | 1.0 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 3.8 | 4.6 | 5.6 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 3.7 | 2.9 | 2.2 | 1.6 |
January is the driest month (1.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 5.6 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Atkins →
Questions about parks and trails in Atkins
Where can I hike in Atkins?
The longest trail networks: Atkins Roundhouse Nature Trail, 1.4 miles; Atkins City Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Atkins is conserved land?
8% 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 Atkins’ trails?
Atkins Roundhouse Nature Trail and Atkins City Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Atkins?
6,660 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Atkins or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 84 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Atkins have?
Ahead of 95% 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 Atkins neighbors.
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 →