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20240719 05 Perry, IowaPhoto: David Wilson · CC BY 2.0
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Perry

Perry has 118 acres of parks, 15 for every 1,000 residents

82% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.5 miles of mapped trail cross Perry, 0.1 per square mile of land. 2% of Perry’s land is conserved, about 62 acres.

Ahead of 44% of U.S. towns · #108 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it

Conserved land
2%
62 acres · of 5.8 sq mi of land
Trails
0.5 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
118 ac
15 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
82%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
7.5 mi
7.5 mi paths

What kind of outdoors town is Perry?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Perry have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Perry is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #108 of 140 in Iowa. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.

C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Perry’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 44%
LessMore
Iowa towns of 2,500+ (140)Ahead of 23%
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.

1234
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.

Pattee Park

Park
62 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Wiese Park

Park
17 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Perkins Park

Park
9 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Caboose Park

Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it

62 conserved acres

2% of Perry’s land. Who manages Perry’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Town or city62 ac
Local Park · 62 ac
The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Patte Park
Local Park
Town or city39Open
Wiese Park
Local Park
Town or city17Open
Perkins Park
Local Park
Town or city6Open
Things to do

5 places to go in Perry

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Playgrounds in Perry

3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.

Biking & sports

7.5 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

7.5 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
9Baseball
2Tennis
1Skate park
1Football

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

6 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.

History →
Perry Carnegie Library BuildingBuilding · listed 1996
About it
Beaver Creek BridgeStructure · listed 1998
About it
Bruce's Snowball Market #1 AdditionBuilding · listed 2000
About it
Dowtown Perry Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2000
About it
Jones Business CollegeBuilding · listed 2000
About it
Saint Patrick's Catholic Church and RectoryBuilding · listed 2011
About it
When to get out

September is the best month for walking in Perry

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.510.511.813.314.515.214.913.812.411.09.89.1
High (°F)293448627282858376644735
Rain (in)0.91.22.03.85.05.24.54.13.42.71.81.3

January is the driest month (0.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 5.2 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Perry →

Questions about parks and trails in Perry

Where can I hike in Perry?

The longest trail networks: Wiese Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Perry 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 Perry’s trails?

Pattee Park and Wiese Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Perry?

7.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 7.5 of off-road paths.

Is there public land near Perry?

2,047 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Perry or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 118 of them inside the city line.

How much outdoors does Perry have?

Ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #108 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 Perry neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →