Sac City Wetland Complex
Nature preserve
79 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Bill Whittaker · CC BY-SA 3.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Sac City
Sac City has 43 acres of parks, 23 for every 1,000 residents
91% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.3 miles of mapped trail cross Sac City, 0.1 per square mile of land. 4% of Sac City’s land is conserved, about 118 acres.
Ahead of 57% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
118 acres · of 4.9 sq mi of land
Trails
0.3 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
43 ac
23 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
91%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Sac City?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Sac City have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Sac City is ahead of 57% 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 Sac City’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical IA town 3% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · IA 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land23 acres of park per 1,000 residents (43 acres) · IA 19 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home91% of residents within a half mile of a park · IA 91% · U.S. 72%B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 57%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B− 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.
Chautauqua Park
Park
28 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Sac City Access
Nature preserve
7 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Riverside Park
Park
5 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 7 parks & preserves
Monument Square1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsSac City Wetland Complex79 acres
Chautauqua Park28 acres
Sac City Access7 acres
Riverside Park5 acres
South Park3 acres
Criss Park1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
118 conserved acres
4% of Sac City’s land. Who manages Sac City’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
USDA easements (NRCS)115 ac
State natural resources83 ac
Conservation Easement · 115 acState Conservation Area · 79 acState Recreation Area · 4 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 36 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sac City Wetland Complex State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 79 | Open |
| Sac City Access State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 4 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Sac City
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Sac City
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Campgrounds in Sac City
Riverside CampgroundIn Chautauqua Park
DirectionsTrails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
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
4Baseball
2Pickleball
1Tennis
1Beach volleyball
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →7 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 2 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Sac County CourthouseBuilding · listed 1981
About itSeven OaksBuilding · listed 1996
About itChautauqua Park Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2014
About itSac City Monument Square Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2015
About itGeorge and Lola Perkins HouseBuilding · listed 2016
About itSac City Chicago and North Western DepotBuilding · listed 2016
About itPark HotelBuilding · listed 2017
About itWhen to get out
September is the best month for walking in Sac 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) | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 27 | 32 | 45 | 60 | 71 | 81 | 84 | 81 | 75 | 62 | 46 | 32 |
| Rain (in) | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 3.4 | 4.3 | 4.9 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 3.0 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 1.1 |
January is the driest month (0.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.9 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Sac City →
Questions about parks and trails in Sac City
How much of Sac City is conserved land?
4% 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 Sac City’s trails?
Sac City Wetland Complex and Chautauqua Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Sac City?
4,298 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Sac City or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 43 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Sac City have?
Ahead of 57% 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 Sac 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 →