Elkader City Park
Park
38 acres0.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Kevin Schuchmann · CC BY-SA 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Elkader
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Elkader
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 1.9 miles of mapped trail cross Elkader, 1.4 per square mile of land. 69 acres are parks and preserves, 53 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 88% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
13 acres · of 1.4 sq mi of land
Trails
1.9 mi
1.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
69 ac
53 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Elkader?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Elkader have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Elkader is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Elkader’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical IA town 3% · U.S. 4%C+Trails1.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · IA 0.3 · U.S. 0.4APark land53 acres of park per 1,000 residents (69 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 88%
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 Elkader City Park, with 0.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Lovers Leap Park
Park
13 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Ardell Kader City Park
Park
10 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 5 parks & preserves
Elkader City Park38 acres · 0.8 mi of trail
Lovers Leap Park13 acres
Ardell Kader City Park10 acres
Founder's Park9 acres · City of Elkader
DirectionsElkader Whitewater Park1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
13 conserved acres
2% of Elkader’s land. Who manages Elkader’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County13 ac
Local Park · 13 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lovers Leap Park Local Park | County | 13 | Open |
Things to do
5 places to go in Elkader
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Elkader
Elkader City PoolIn Elkader City Park
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Elkader
Elkader City Park PlaygroundIn Elkader City Park
DirectionsPlus 1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Campgrounds in Elkader
Deer Run Resort
DirectionsElkader City Park CampgroundFee · In Elkader City Park
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 0.5 mi
Ponu Hollow Trail0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
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
5Baseball
2Tennis
2Basketball
2Beach volleyball
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →9 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Timothy Davis HouseBuilding · listed 1976
About itClayton County CourthouseBuilding · listed 1976
About itElkader Opera HouseBuilding · listed 1976
About itJ. C. Stemmer HouseBuilding · listed 1976
About itCarter HouseBuilding · listed 1976
About itElkader Keystone BridgeStructure · listed 1976
About itRialto Price HouseBuilding · listed 1976
About itSt. Joseph Church and Parish HallBuilding · listed 1976
About itSchmidt HouseBuilding · listed 1977
About itWhen to get out
The walking year in Elkader
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) | 26 | 31 | 44 | 58 | 70 | 79 | 83 | 81 | 74 | 61 | 45 | 32 |
| Rain (in) | 1.2 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 3.9 | 4.6 | 5.7 | 4.7 | 4.1 | 3.9 | 2.8 | 2.1 | 1.6 |
January is the driest month (1.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 5.7 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Elkader →
Questions about parks and trails in Elkader
Where can I hike in Elkader?
The longest trail networks: Elkader City Park, 0.8 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Elkader 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 Elkader’s trails?
Elkader City Park and Lovers Leap Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Elkader?
1,627 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Elkader or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 69 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Elkader have?
Ahead of 88% 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 Elkader 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 →