St. Luke's Methodist Church · Photo: JERRYE AND ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Monticello has 34 acres of parks, 8.4 for every 1,000 residents
85% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.3 miles of mapped trail cross Monticello, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 31% of U.S. towns · #132 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Monticello?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Monticello have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Monticello is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns, #132 of 140 in Iowa. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Pick a walk
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Jacobs Park
23 conserved acres
1% of Monticello’s land. Who manages Monticello’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monticello City Park Local Park | Town or city | 14 | Open |
| Y Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Jacobs Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Maple Street Playground Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
3 places to go in Monticello
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
1 playground without a name on the map.
2 lakes & rivers
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
4 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
September is the best month for walking in Monticello
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 | 15.2 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 27 | 32 | 46 | 60 | 71 | 80 | 83 | 81 | 75 | 62 | 46 | 33 |
| Rain (in) | 1.2 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 4.0 | 4.6 | 5.9 | 4.7 | 4.2 | 3.6 | 3.1 | 2.2 | 1.7 |
January is the driest month (1.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 5.9 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Monticello →
Questions about parks and trails in Monticello
How much of Monticello 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 Monticello’s trails?
Monticello City Park and Y Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Monticello?
3,060 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Monticello or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 34 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Monticello have?
Ahead of 31% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #132 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 Monticello neighbors.
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 →