Drake Park
Park
9 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Chain Lakes Bridge · Photo: Jim Roberts · CC BY-SA 4.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Palo
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Palo
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 1.0 miles of mapped trail cross Palo, 0.8 per square mile of land. 27 acres are parks and preserves, 19 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 80% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
16 acres · of 1.2 sq mi of land
Trails
1.0 mi
0.8 per sq mi of land
Park land
27 ac
19 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Palo?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Palo have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Palo is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Palo’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical IA town 3% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · IA 0.3 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land19 acres of park per 1,000 residents (27 acres) · IA 19 · U.S. 13BParks close to homeVirtually all 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
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 Drake Park, with 0.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Dry Creek Park
Park
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Palo Marsh Natural Area
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
16 conserved acres
2% of Palo’s land. Who manages Palo’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County16 ac
Local Park · 16 acLocal Conservation Area · 1 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drake Park Local Park | County | 8 | Open |
| Palo Memorial Park Local Park | County | 6 | Open |
| Dry Creek Park Local Park | County | 2 | Open |
| Palo Marsh Natural Area Local Conservation Area | County | 1 | Open |
| Cedar River Estates Park Local Park | County | 1 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Palo
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Palo
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Palo
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
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
3Basketball
3Baseball
1Volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
September is the best month for walking in Palo
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 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 28 | 33 | 47 | 61 | 72 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 75 | 62 | 47 | 33 |
| Rain (in) | 1.0 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 5.6 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 3.6 | 2.9 | 2.1 | 1.5 |
January is the driest month (1.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 5.6 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Palo →
Questions about parks and trails in Palo
Where can I hike in Palo?
The longest trail networks: Drake Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Palo 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 Palo’s trails?
Drake Park and Zeller Memorial Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Palo?
9,070 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Palo or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 27 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Palo have?
Ahead of 80% 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 Palo 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 →