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Knoxville WPA Athletic Field Historic DistrictKnoxville WPA Athletic Field Historic District · Photo: Boscophotos · CC BY-SA 3.0
COutdoors
Outdoors in Knoxville

Knoxville has 44 acres of parks, 5.9 for every 1,000 residents

0.1 miles of mapped trail cross Knoxville. 79% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1% of Knoxville’s land is conserved, about 36 acres.

Ahead of 28% of U.S. towns · #135 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it

Conserved land
1%
36 acres · of 4.6 sq mi of land
Trails
0.1 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
44 ac
5.9 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
79%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.7 mi
2.7 mi paths

What kind of outdoors town is Knoxville?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Knoxville have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Knoxville is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns, #135 of 140 in Iowa. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.

C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Knoxville’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 28%
LessMore
Iowa towns of 2,500+ (140)Ahead of 4%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. 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.

1234
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 Youngs Park, with 0.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Youngs Park

Park
13 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Auld Park

Park
13 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Edwards City Park

Park
13 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Veterans Park

Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it

36 conserved acres

1% of Knoxville’s land. Who manages Knoxville’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Town or city36 ac
Local Park · 36 ac
The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Auld Park
Local Park
Town or city14Open
Edwards City Park
Local Park
Town or city11Open
Youngs Park
Local Park
Town or city11Open
Things to do

2 places to go in Knoxville

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Playgrounds in Knoxville

2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.

Biking & sports

2.7 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

2.7 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
10Tennis
5Baseball
2Basketball
1Soccer
1Skate park

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

4 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).

History →
Marion County CourthouseBuilding · listed 1981
About it
E. R. Hays HouseBuilding · listed 1984
About it
Knoxville WPA Athletic Field Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2007
About it
Knoxville Veterans Administration Hospital Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2012
About it
When to get out

September is the best month for walking in Knoxville

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.510.611.813.314.515.114.913.812.411.09.89.2
High (°F)313649627281858377644936
Rain (in)1.01.42.03.94.95.54.44.13.62.72.01.4

January is the driest month (1.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 5.5 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Knoxville →

Questions about parks and trails in Knoxville

Where can I hike in Knoxville?

The longest trail networks: Youngs Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Knoxville is conserved land?

1% 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 Knoxville’s trails?

Youngs Park and Auld Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Knoxville?

2.7 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.7 of off-road paths.

Is there public land near Knoxville?

27,079 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Knoxville or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 44 of them inside the city line.

How much outdoors does Knoxville have?

Ahead of 28% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #135 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 Knoxville neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →