Photo: RifeIdeas · CC BY-SA 3.0Nashua has 172 acres of parks, 106 for every 1,000 residents
8% of Nashua’s land is conserved, about 142 acres. 75% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 58% of U.S. towns. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Nashua?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Nashua have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Nashua is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
Water is 8% of Nashua’s area (0 of 3 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 7%.
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.
Cedar Lake Park
Nashua Cedar Access
142 conserved acres
8% of Nashua’s land. Water is left out: Nashua has 2.9 square miles of land and 0.3 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Nashua’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cedar Lake Local Park | County | 134 | Open |
| Nashua Access State Recreation Area | County | 4 | Open |
| Walnut Dike Local Park | County | 2 | Open |
| Nashua Cedar River Access Local Park | County | 2 | Open |
6 places to go in Nashua
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
5 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
1 lakes & rivers
0.6 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.
The walking year in Nashua
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) | 9.3 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.7 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 25 | 30 | 43 | 58 | 70 | 80 | 82 | 80 | 74 | 60 | 44 | 31 |
| Rain (in) | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 3.9 | 4.9 | 6.0 | 4.8 | 4.3 | 3.8 | 2.7 | 1.9 | 1.4 |
January is the driest month (1.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 6.0 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Nashua →
Questions about parks and trails in Nashua
How much of Nashua is conserved land?
8% 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 Nashua’s trails?
Cedar View Park and Cedar Lake Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Nashua?
0.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.6 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Nashua?
2,224 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Nashua or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 172 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Nashua have?
Ahead of 58% 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 Nashua 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 →