Lenon Mill State Wildlife Area
Nature preserve
72 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Panora
10% of Panora’s land is conserved, and virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 117 acres are parks and preserves, 74 per 1,000 residents. 10% of Panora’s land is conserved, about 114 acres.
Ahead of 74% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
10%
114 acres · of 1.8 sq mi of land
Trails
0.0 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
117 ac
74 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.2 mi
1.2 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Panora?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Panora have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Panora is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Panora’s overall grade.
Conserved land10% of the land · typical IA town 3% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · IA 0.3 · U.S. 0.4DPark land74 acres of park per 1,000 residents (117 acres) · IA 19 · U.S. 13A−Parks 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 74%
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Lenon Mill Park
Park
14 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Lennon Mills Historical Site
Nature preserve
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
114 conserved acres
10% of Panora’s land. Who manages Panora’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources72 ac
County43 ac
State Conservation Area · 72 acLocal Park · 31 acState Historic or Cultural Area · 11 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lennon Mills Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 72 | Open |
| Lenon Mill Park Local Park | County | 19 | Open |
| Raccoon River Valley Trail Local Park | County | 12 | Open |
| Lennon Mills Historical Site State Historic or Cultural Area | County | 8 | Open |
| Guthrie County Historical Village State Historic or Cultural Area | County | 4 | Open |
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
1.2 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.2 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
4Baseball
1Football
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 Panora
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) | 30 | 35 | 48 | 62 | 72 | 82 | 85 | 83 | 76 | 64 | 48 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 0.8 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 3.7 | 5.1 | 5.1 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 3.5 | 2.7 | 1.7 | 1.2 |
January is the driest month (0.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 5.1 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Panora →
Next door
Panora and its neighbors
Panora 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panora | 10% | under 0.1 | 74 | 99%+ | B+ |
| Lake Panorama | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Panora
How much of Panora is conserved land?
10% 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 Panora’s trails?
Lenon Mill State Wildlife Area and Lenon Mill Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Panora?
1.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.2 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Panora?
6,302 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Panora or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 117 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Panora have?
Ahead of 74% 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 Panora 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 →