Summit Park
Managed by City of Missouri Valley
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Missouri Valley
Missouri Valley has 43 acres of parks, 16 for every 1,000 residents
4.4 miles of mapped trail cross Missouri Valley, 1.3 per square mile of land. 81% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 2% of Missouri Valley’s land is conserved, about 51 acres.
Ahead of 71% of U.S. towns · #58 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
51 acres · of 3.3 sq mi of land
Trails
4.4 mi
1.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
43 ac
16 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
81%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Missouri Valley?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Missouri Valley have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Missouri Valley is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns, #58 of 140 in Iowa. Trail miles hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Missouri Valley’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical IA town 3% · U.S. 4%C+Trails1.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (4 mi) · IA 0.3 · U.S. 0.4APark land16 acres of park per 1,000 residents (43 acres) · IA 19 · U.S. 13BParks 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 71%
LessMore
Iowa towns of 2,500+ (140)Ahead of 59%
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.
Missouri Valley Dog Park
Managed by City of Missouri Valley
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Missouri Valley City Park
Managed by City of Missouri Valley
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
51 conserved acres
2% of Missouri Valley’s land. Who manages Missouri Valley’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city39 ac
Regional agency11 ac
Local Recreation Area · 47 acLocal Park · 4 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Missouri Valley Fair Grounds Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 20 | Open |
| Missouri Valley School Baseball Fields Local Recreation Area | Regional agency | 9 | Open |
| Missouri Valley Soccer Fields Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Missouri Valley Football Field & Track Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Missouri Valley Pool & City Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Missouri Valley Elementary School Playground & Tennis/Basketball Courts Local Recreation Area | Regional agency | 2 | Open |
| Missouri Valley Softball Field Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Missouri Valley Baseball Field Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
5 places to go in Missouri Valley
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Missouri Valley
1 public pool without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in Missouri Valley
4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
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
7Baseball
4Soccer
4Basketball
1Equestrian
1Tennis
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The walking year in Missouri Valley
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) | 9.5 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 32 | 37 | 50 | 63 | 73 | 83 | 86 | 84 | 78 | 65 | 49 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 3.2 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 3.3 | 2.4 | 1.3 | 1.2 |
January is the driest month (0.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 4.9 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Missouri Valley →
Questions about parks and trails in Missouri Valley
How much of Missouri Valley 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 Missouri Valley’s trails?
Summit Park and Missouri Valley Dog Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Missouri Valley?
3,118 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Missouri Valley or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 43 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Missouri Valley have?
Ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #58 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 Missouri Valley 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 →