Gillette Park
Park
7 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Cherokee
Cherokee has 138 acres of parks, 27 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Gillette Park (0.6 mi). 2% of Cherokee’s land is conserved, about 96 acres. 2.6 miles of mapped trail cross Cherokee, 0.4 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 58% of U.S. towns · #88 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
96 acres · of 6.8 sq mi of land
Trails
2.6 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
138 ac
27 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
67%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.5 mi
0.5 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Cherokee?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Cherokee have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Cherokee is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns, #88 of 140 in Iowa. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Cherokee’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical IA town 3% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · IA 0.3 · U.S. 0.4BPark land27 acres of park per 1,000 residents (138 acres) · IA 19 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home67% of residents within a half mile of a park · IA 91% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 58%
LessMore
Iowa towns of 2,500+ (140)Ahead of 37%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to B. 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 Gillette Park, with 0.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Wescott Park
Park
24 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Cherokee County Fairgrounds
Park
22 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 6 parks & preserves
Gillette Park7 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
Central Park5 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Spring Lake Park45 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsWescott Park24 acres
Cherokee County Fairgrounds22 acres
Spring Lake Disc Golf Course16 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
96 conserved acres
2% of Cherokee’s land. Who manages Cherokee’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city96 ac
Local Park · 96 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Lake Park Local Park | Town or city | 49 | Open |
| Wescott Park Local Park | Town or city | 30 | Open |
| Gillette Park Local Park | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Central Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
Things to do
6 places to go in Cherokee
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Cherokee
Bacon Aquatic Center PoolIn Gillette Park
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Cherokee
Spring Lake Park PlaygroundIn Spring Lake Park
DirectionsPlus 2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Cherokee
Ken & Jan Kistenmacher Dog ParkIn Wescott Park
DirectionsDisc golf in Cherokee
Beacon Hollow Disc Golf Course
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Central Park Walking Path0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.5 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.5 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
7Baseball
6Tennis
2Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →8 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Cherokee Public LibraryBuilding · listed 1985
About itIllinois Central Railroad Yard-CherokeeDistrict · listed 1990
About itLewis HotelBuilding · listed 1997
About itMill Creek BridgeStructure · listed 1998
About itCherokee Commercial Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2005
About itGuy M. and Rose (Freeman) Gillette HouseBuilding · listed 2019
About itLemuel C. and Mary (Vaughn) Boughton HouseBuilding · listed 2019
About itRoy C. and Lena (Johnson) Seaman HouseBuilding · listed 2019
About itWhen to get out
September is the best month for walking in Cherokee
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 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 27 | 32 | 45 | 60 | 71 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 75 | 62 | 45 | 31 |
| Rain (in) | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 3.3 | 4.2 | 4.9 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 2.3 | 1.4 | 1.0 |
January is the driest month (0.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.9 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Cherokee →
Questions about parks and trails in Cherokee
Where can I hike in Cherokee?
The longest trail networks: Gillette Park, 0.6 miles; Spring Lake Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Cherokee is conserved land?
2% 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 Cherokee’s trails?
Gillette Park and Spring Lake Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Cherokee?
0.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.5 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Cherokee?
1,533 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Cherokee or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 138 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Cherokee have?
Ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #88 of 140 in Iowa. 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 Cherokee 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 →