Judge Lewis Park
Park
16 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Mount Ayr
Mount Ayr has 53 acres of parks, 29 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Judge Lewis Park (0.6 mi). 0.7 miles of mapped trail cross Mount Ayr, 0.3 per square mile of land. 64% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 40% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
0 acres · of 2.7 sq mi of land
Trails
0.7 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
53 ac
29 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
64%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Mount Ayr have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Mount Ayr is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Mount Ayr’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical IA town 3% · U.S. 4%DTrails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · IA 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land29 acres of park per 1,000 residents (53 acres) · IA 19 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home64% 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 40%
LessMore
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 Judge Lewis Park, with 0.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Liberty Lake Park
Park
37 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Things to do
5 places to go in Mount Ayr
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Mount Ayr
5 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
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
5Baseball
2Tennis
2Basketball
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 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 Mount Ayr
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) | 9.6 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.4 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 32 | 37 | 50 | 62 | 72 | 81 | 85 | 83 | 76 | 64 | 49 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 0.9 | 1.3 | 2.2 | 4.0 | 5.5 | 5.0 | 4.4 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 2.9 | 2.1 | 1.4 |
January is the driest month (0.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 5.5 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Mount Ayr →
Questions about parks and trails in Mount Ayr
Where can I hike in Mount Ayr?
The longest trail networks: Judge Lewis Park, 0.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Mount Ayr is conserved land?
under 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 Mount Ayr’s trails?
Judge Lewis Park and Liberty Lake Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Mount Ayr?
6,885 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Mount Ayr or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 53 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Mount Ayr have?
Ahead of 40% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Mount Ayr 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 →