Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge
Managed by US Fish and Wildlife Service
8 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Photo: Mattofwashington · CC BY-SA 3.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Prairie City
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Prairie City
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 0.2 miles of mapped trail cross Prairie City, 0.2 per square mile of land. 10 acres are parks and preserves, 5.9 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 46% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
7 acres · of 1.2 sq mi of land
Trails
0.2 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
10 ac
5.9 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.9 mi
0.9 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Prairie City?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Prairie City have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Prairie City is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Prairie City’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical IA town 3% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · IA 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land5.9 acres of park per 1,000 residents (10 acres) · IA 19 · U.S. 13CParks 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 46%
LessMore
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Prairie City. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
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.
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.
Who protects it
7 conserved acres
1% of Prairie City’s land. Who manages Prairie City’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service13 ac
National Wildlife Refuge · 13 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 13 | Restricted |
Things to do
1 places to go in Prairie City
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Prairie City
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Biking & sports
0.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.9 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
8Baseball
2Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Samuel D. Butters HouseBuilding · listed 2026
About itWhen to get out
September is the best month for walking in Prairie City
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 | 61 | 72 | 81 | 85 | 83 | 76 | 63 | 48 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 0.9 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 3.8 | 4.9 | 5.3 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 3.5 | 2.7 | 1.9 | 1.4 |
January is the driest month (0.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 5.3 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Prairie City →
Questions about parks and trails in Prairie City
How much of Prairie City is conserved land?
1% 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 Prairie City’s trails?
Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Prairie City?
0.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.9 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Prairie City?
18,443 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Prairie City or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 10 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Prairie City have?
Ahead of 46% 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 Prairie City 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 →