Penn Meadows Park
Managed by City of North Liberty
40 acres0.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Cutfromthetop · CC BY-SA 4.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in North Liberty
99% of residents live within a half mile of a park in North Liberty
10 miles of mapped trail cross North Liberty, 1.0 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Penn Meadows Park (0.9 mi), Creekside Commons (0.6 mi). 4% of North Liberty’s land is conserved, about 260 acres.
Ahead of 80% of U.S. towns · #33 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
260 acres · of 9.5 sq mi of land
Trails
10 mi
1.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
251 ac
12 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
25 mi
25 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
7
What kind of outdoors town is North Liberty?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does North Liberty have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, North Liberty is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns, #33 of 140 in Iowa. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park ranks highest, park acres per resident lowest.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of North Liberty’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical IA town 3% · U.S. 4%BTrails1.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (10 mi) · IA 0.3 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land12 acres of park per 1,000 residents (251 acres) · IA 19 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home99% of residents within a half mile of a park · IA 91% · U.S. 72%A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 80%
LessMore
Iowa towns of 2,500+ (140)Ahead of 77%
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
The longest trail network is Penn Meadows Park, with 0.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Creekside Commons
Park
19 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
West Lake
Park
31 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 16 parks & preserves
Penn Meadows Park40 acres · 0.9 mi of trail · City of North Liberty
DirectionsCreekside Commons19 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
West Lake31 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Beaver Kreek Park4 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Cornerstone Park Nature Area3 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Centennial Park41 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsBroadmor Pond7 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Fox Valley Park7 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · CIty of North Liberty
Mar Lee Park2 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Fox Valley Pond14 acres
Quail Ridge Park10 acres
DirectionsLiberty Centre Pond8 acres
Freedom Park7 acres
Deerfield Park4 acres
Koser Park2 acres · City of North Liberty
DirectionsFox Run Park1 acres · CIty of North Liberty
Who protects it
260 conserved acres
4% of North Liberty’s land. Who manages North Liberty’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city246 ac
Army Corps of Engineers18 ac
Local Park · 230 acRecreation Management Area · 18 acState Recreation Area · 16 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penn Meadows Park Local Park | Town or city | 42 | Open |
| Centennial Park Local Park | Town or city | 41 | Open |
| West Lake Local Park | Town or city | 32 | Open |
| Creekside Commons Park Local Park | Town or city | 18 | Open |
| Coralville Recreation Area Recreation Management Area | Army Corps of Engineers | 18 | Open |
| Goose Lake Pond State Recreation Area | Town or city | 16 | Open |
| Fox Valley Pond Local Park | Town or city | 13 | Open |
| Quail Ridge Park Local Park | Town or city | 13 | Open |
| Fox Run Park & Pond Local Park | Town or city | 7 | Open |
| Freedom Park Local Park | Town or city | 7 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
15 places to go in North Liberty
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in North Liberty
North Liberty Aquatic Center
DirectionsPlaygrounds in North Liberty
Rock Climbing AreaIn Centennial Park
DirectionsSplash PadIn Penn Meadows Park
DirectionsPlus 11 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in North Liberty
Red Fern Dog Park
DirectionsTrails & water
7 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
25 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
25 mi
off-road bike paths
South Front Street SidepathBike route
1.5 miPenn Meadows Park TrailsBike route
0.9 miCreekside Commons TrailsBike route
0.7 miSaint Andrews Drive SidepathBike route
0.5 miEast Tartan Drive SidepathBike route
0.4 miCornerstone Park Nature Area TrailsBike route
0.4 miNorth Front Street SidepathBike route
0.3 miCourts & fields
56Basketball
15Baseball
13Tennis
3Football
3Soccer
2Softball
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).
When to get out
The best walking months in North Liberty: April and September
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) | 29 | 34 | 48 | 61 | 72 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 63 | 47 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 1.1 | 1.4 | 2.2 | 3.7 | 4.6 | 5.5 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 3.6 | 3.0 | 2.2 | 1.6 |
January is the driest month (1.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 5.5 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in North Liberty →
Next door
North Liberty and its neighbors
North Liberty has the second most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Liberty | 4% | 1.0 | 12 | 99% | A− |
| Coralville | 12% | 1.5 | 40 | 87% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in North Liberty
Where can I hike in North Liberty?
The longest trail networks: Penn Meadows Park, 0.9 miles; Creekside Commons, 0.6 miles; Centennial Park, 0.1 miles; West Lake, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of North Liberty is conserved land?
4% 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 North Liberty’s trails?
Penn Meadows Park and Creekside Commons don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in North Liberty?
25 miles of bike routes are on the map: 25 of off-road paths. Named routes: South Front Street Sidepath, Penn Meadows Park Trails and Creekside Commons Trails.
Is there public land near North Liberty?
32,039 acres of parks and open public land lie inside North Liberty or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 269 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does North Liberty have?
Ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #33 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 North Liberty 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 →