John Brown Park
Park
3 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Billwhittaker at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Humboldt
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Humboldt
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 4.9 miles of mapped trail cross Humboldt, 1.1 per square mile of land. 103 acres are parks and preserves, 22 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 86% of U.S. towns · #15 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
102 acres · of 4.7 sq mi of land
Trails
4.9 mi
1.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
103 ac
22 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.8 mi
0.8 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Humboldt?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Humboldt have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Humboldt is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #15 of 140 in Iowa. 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 Humboldt’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical IA town 3% · U.S. 4%B−Trails1.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (5 mi) · IA 0.3 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land22 acres of park per 1,000 residents (103 acres) · IA 19 · U.S. 13B+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 86%
LessMore
Iowa towns of 2,500+ (140)Ahead of 90%
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
The longest trail network is John Brown Park, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Eagle Ridge Park
Nature preserve
34 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Taft Park
Park
11 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 14 parks & preserves
John Brown Park3 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Eagle Ridge Park34 acres
West River Ball Diamonds11 acres
DirectionsTaft Park11 acres
George Beebe Park8 acres
Iowa Park4 acres
Scott Island3 acres
Lake Nokomis Park3 acres
Tourist Park2 acres
Worthington Park2 acres
Bicknell Park2 acres
Riverside Park2 acres
Hampson Hillside Park2 acres
Rainbow Drive Park1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
102 conserved acres
3% of Humboldt’s land. Who manages Humboldt’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city63 ac
County46 ac
Private owners1 ac
Local Park · 76 acState Other or Unknown · 21 acLocal Recreation Area · 11 acLocal Conservation Area · 2 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Three Rivers Trail Local Park | County | 44 | Open |
| Nursery Ponds State Other or Unknown | Town or city | 21 | Open |
| West River Ball Diamonds Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 11 | Open |
| Taft Park Local Park | Town or city | 10 | Open |
| George Beebe Park Local Park | Town or city | 10 | Open |
| Fay Hessian Fountain Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Tourist Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Lake Nokomis Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Scott Island Local Conservation Area | County | 2 | Open |
| Bicknell Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
2 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
3 places to go in Humboldt
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Humboldt
Wildcat WonderlandIn Taft Park
DirectionsPlus 2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 4.5 miUnpaved · 1.8 mi
Three Rivers Trail4.5 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.8 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.8 mi
off-road bike paths
Three Rivers TrailBike route
4.5 miCourts & fields
6Baseball
4Tennis
3Tracks
2Beach volleyball
2Basketball
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →4 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
September is the best month for walking in Humboldt
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 | 59 | 71 | 80 | 83 | 81 | 75 | 62 | 45 | 31 |
| Rain (in) | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 3.7 | 4.6 | 4.9 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 2.8 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 1.3 |
January is the driest month (0.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.9 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Humboldt →
Next door
Humboldt and its neighbors
Humboldt has the most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Humboldt | 3% | 1.1 | 22 | 99%+ | A |
| Dakota City | — 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 Humboldt
Where can I hike in Humboldt?
The longest trail networks: John Brown Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Humboldt is conserved land?
3% 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 Humboldt’s trails?
John Brown Park and Eagle Ridge Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Humboldt?
0.8 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.8 of off-road paths. Named routes: Three Rivers Trail.
Is there public land near Humboldt?
1,605 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Humboldt or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 115 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Humboldt have?
Ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #15 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 Humboldt 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 →