Schram Park
Managed by City of Manchester
32 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Kevin Schuchmann · CC BY-SA 3.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Manchester
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Manchester
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Schram Park (0.6 mi). 88 acres are parks and preserves, 17 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 59% of U.S. towns · #86 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
69 acres · of 4.9 sq mi of land
Trails
0.6 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
88 ac
17 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
5.1 mi
5.1 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
1 beach · 2 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Manchester?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Manchester have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Manchester is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns, #86 of 140 in Iowa. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Manchester’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical IA town 3% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · IA 0.3 · U.S. 0.4CPark land17 acres of park per 1,000 residents (88 acres) · IA 19 · U.S. 13BParks 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 59%
LessMore
Iowa towns of 2,500+ (140)Ahead of 39%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ 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 Schram Park, with 0.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Manchester Whitewater Park
Managed by City of Manchester
7 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Baum Park
Managed by City of Manchester
5 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 8 parks & preserves
Schram Park32 acres · 0.6 mi of trail · City of Manchester
Tirrill Park7 acres · City of Manchester
DirectionsManchester Whitewater Park7 acres · City of Manchester
DirectionsBaum Park5 acres · City of Manchester
Seibert Park2 acres · City of Manchester
DirectionsCentral Park2 acres · City of Manchester
Denton Park2 acres · City of Manchester
Shelly Park1 acres · City of Manchester
DirectionsWho protects it
69 conserved acres
2% of Manchester’s land. Who manages Manchester’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city69 ac
Local Park · 69 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schram Park Local Park | Town or city | 33 | Open |
| Beckman Sport Complex Local Park | Town or city | 16 | Open |
| Tirrill Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Bauum Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Seibert Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Riverfront Park & Gazebo Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Central Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Denton Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
Things to do
11 places to go in Manchester
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Manchester
1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Public pools in Manchester
Manchester Family Aquatic CenterIn Tirrill Park
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Manchester
Denton Park PlaygroundIn Denton Park
DirectionsSeibert Park PlaygroundIn Seibert Park
DirectionsTirrill Park PlaygroundIn Tirrill Park
DirectionsPlus 3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Manchester
Manchester Dog Park
DirectionsBoat launches in Manchester
2 boat launches without a name on the map.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
5.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
5.1 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
10Baseball
5Basketball
3Tennis
2Pickleball
1Skate park
1Football
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 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 Manchester
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 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 26 | 31 | 45 | 59 | 70 | 79 | 83 | 80 | 74 | 61 | 45 | 32 |
| Rain (in) | 1.3 | 1.4 | 2.3 | 3.9 | 4.6 | 6.0 | 4.4 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 3.0 | 2.2 | 1.7 |
January is the driest month (1.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 6.0 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Manchester →
Questions about parks and trails in Manchester
Where can I hike in Manchester?
The longest trail networks: Schram Park, 0.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Manchester 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 Manchester’s trails?
Schram Park and Tirrill Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Manchester?
5.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 5.1 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Manchester?
2,965 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Manchester or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 88 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Manchester have?
Ahead of 59% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #86 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 Manchester 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 →