Erickson Park
Park
9 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Roland
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Roland
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 0.1 miles of mapped trail cross Roland, 0.1 per square mile of land. 16 acres are parks and preserves, 10 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 39% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
0 acres · of 1.2 sq mi of land
Trails
0.1 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
16 ac
10 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Roland?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Roland have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Roland is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Roland’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical IA town 3% · U.S. 4%DTrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · IA 0.3 · U.S. 0.4CPark land10 acres of park per 1,000 residents (16 acres) · IA 19 · U.S. 13B−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 39%
LessMore
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.
Britson Park and Athletic Complex
Managed by City of Roland
6 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Things to do
2 places to go in Roland
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Roland
Roland Municipal Pool
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Roland
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Praeri Rail Trail0.1 mi
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
5Baseball
2Tennis
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The walking year in Roland
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 | 14.6 | 15.2 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 28 | 33 | 46 | 60 | 71 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 62 | 46 | 33 |
| Rain (in) | 0.9 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.8 | 5.1 | 5.5 | 4.2 | 4.4 | 3.6 | 2.6 | 1.8 | 1.4 |
January is the driest month (0.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 5.5 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Roland →
Questions about parks and trails in Roland
How much of Roland is conserved land?
under 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 Roland’s trails?
Erickson Park and Britson Park and Athletic Complex don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Roland?
3,067 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Roland or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 16 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Roland have?
Ahead of 39% 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 Roland 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 →