Sportsmans Park
Park
28 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Matthew Shaw00 · CC BY-SA 4.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Shenandoah
Shenandoah has 70 acres of parks, 14 for every 1,000 residents
95% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.3 miles of mapped trail cross Shenandoah, 0.1 per square mile of land. 3% of Shenandoah’s land is conserved, about 68 acres.
Ahead of 53% of U.S. towns · #94 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
68 acres · of 3.7 sq mi of land
Trails
0.3 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
70 ac
14 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
95%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.9 mi
0.3 mi lanes · 0.6 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Shenandoah?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Shenandoah have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Shenandoah is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns, #94 of 140 in Iowa. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Shenandoah’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% 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. 0.4CPark land14 acres of park per 1,000 residents (70 acres) · IA 19 · U.S. 13BParks close to home95% of residents within a half mile of a park · IA 91% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 53%
LessMore
Iowa towns of 2,500+ (140)Ahead of 33%
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
The longest trail network is Sportsmans Park, with 0.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Waubonsie Park
Park
11 acres0.2 mi of trail
Wabash Trace Nature Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
McComb Park
Park
8 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Cherry Hills Park
Park
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 10 parks & preserves
Waubonsie Park11 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Sportsmans Park28 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
McComb Park8 acres
Cherry Hills Park4 acres
Crose Heights Park3 acres
DirectionsPriest Park2 acres
Gee Park2 acres
Garfield Park1 acres
Gottsch Park1 acres
Nicholson Park1 acres
Who protects it
68 conserved acres
3% of Shenandoah’s land. Who manages Shenandoah’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city67 ac
Local Park · 67 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sportsmans Park Local Park | Town or city | 30 | Open |
| Waubonsie Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Mccomb Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Cherry Hills Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Wilson Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Crose Heights Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Gee Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Priest Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Garfield Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Gottsch Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
7 places to go in Shenandoah
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Shenandoah
7 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Wabash Trace Nature Trail0.2 mi
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.
0.3 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
0.6 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
8Tennis
5Baseball
2Basketball
2Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Shenandoah: April and September
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) | 9.6 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.4 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 33 | 39 | 52 | 64 | 74 | 83 | 86 | 85 | 78 | 66 | 50 | 38 |
| Rain (in) | 0.8 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 3.4 | 5.5 | 5.1 | 4.4 | 3.8 | 3.2 | 2.8 | 1.6 | 1.3 |
January is the driest month (0.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 5.5 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 86 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Shenandoah →
Questions about parks and trails in Shenandoah
Where can I hike in Shenandoah?
The longest trail networks: Sportsmans Park, 0.1 miles; Waubonsie Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Shenandoah is conserved land?
3% 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 Shenandoah’s trails?
Sportsmans Park and Waubonsie Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Shenandoah?
0.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.3 of painted or protected lanes and 0.6 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Shenandoah?
3,433 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Shenandoah or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 70 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Shenandoah have?
Ahead of 53% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #94 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 Shenandoah 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 →