Riverside Park
Park
54 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Charles Nixon / FortepanIowa · CC BY-SA 4.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Coon Rapids
Coon Rapids has 88 acres of parks, 60 for every 1,000 residents
1.0 miles of mapped trail cross Coon Rapids, 0.6 per square mile of land. 81% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 5% of Coon Rapids’ land is conserved, about 53 acres.
Ahead of 79% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
53 acres · of 1.8 sq mi of land
Trails
1.0 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
88 ac
60 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
81%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.2 mi
2.2 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Coon Rapids?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Coon Rapids have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Coon Rapids is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; park acres per resident rank highest, conserved land lowest.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Coon Rapids’ overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical IA town 3% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · IA 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land60 acres of park per 1,000 residents (88 acres) · IA 19 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home81% 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 79%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
53 conserved acres
5% of Coon Rapids’ land. Who manages Coon Rapids’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits32 ac
County20 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)1 ac
Private Conservation · 32 acLocal Park · 20 acConservation Easement · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1 acre is a conservation easement, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| White Rock Conservancy Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 32 | Open |
| Riverside Park Local Park | County | 20 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Coon Rapids
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Coon Rapids
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Picnic areas in Coon Rapids
1 picnic area without a name on the map.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
2.2 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.2 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
4Basketball
3Baseball
1Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places 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.
When to get out
September is the best month for walking in Coon Rapids
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) | 29 | 34 | 47 | 61 | 71 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 63 | 47 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 0.8 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 3.6 | 5.1 | 5.2 | 4.0 | 4.4 | 3.4 | 2.6 | 1.6 | 1.2 |
January is the driest month (0.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 5.2 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Coon Rapids →
Questions about parks and trails in Coon Rapids
How much of Coon Rapids is conserved land?
5% 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 Coon Rapids’ trails?
Riverside Park and Whiterock Conservancy don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Coon Rapids?
2.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.2 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Coon Rapids?
7,465 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Coon Rapids or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 88 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Coon Rapids have?
Ahead of 79% 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 Coon Rapids 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 →