Solon Recreation and Nature Area
Park
56 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Stone Academy · Photo: Billwhittaker at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Solon
8% of Solon’s land is conserved, and virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Solon Recreation and Nature Area (0.6 mi). 99 acres are parks and preserves, 31 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 91% of U.S. towns · #7 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
Conserved land
8%
88 acres · of 1.7 sq mi of land
Trails
1.0 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
99 ac
31 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
4.7 mi
2.4 mi lanes · 2.3 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Solon?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Solon have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Solon is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns, #7 of 140 in Iowa. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park ranks highest, trail miles lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Solon’s overall grade.
Conserved land8% of the land · typical IA town 3% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · IA 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land31 acres of park per 1,000 residents (99 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 91%
LessMore
Iowa towns of 2,500+ (140)Ahead of 96%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. 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 Solon Recreation and Nature Area, with 0.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Randall Park
Park
6 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Solon Prairie
Managed by Johnson County Conservation Board
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 5 parks & preserves
Solon Recreation and Nature Area56 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
DirectionsRandall Park6 acres
Legion Park5 acres
DirectionsSolon Prairie3 acres · Johnson County Conservation Board
DirectionsLake Macbride State Park2 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
88 conserved acres
8% of Solon’s land. Who manages Solon’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city64 ac
Army Corps of Engineers22 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits4 ac
County3 ac
Local Park · 67 acRecreation Management Area · 22 acState Recreation Area · 4 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Randall Park Local Park | Town or city | 62 | Open |
| Coralville Recreation Area Recreation Management Area | Army Corps of Engineers | 22 | Open |
| Hoover Nature Trail State Recreation Area | Land trusts & nonprofits | 4 | Open |
| Solon Prairie Local Park | County | 3 | Open |
| Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Solon
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Disc golf in Solon
Timber Dome Disc Golf CourseIn Solon Recreation and Nature Area
DirectionsBiking & sports
4.7 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.4 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
2.3 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
5Softball
4Baseball
2Basketball
2Tennis
2Football
1Beach volleyball
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).
Cottage at Rock and Dubuque StreetsBuilding · listed 1985
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Solon: 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) | 9.5 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 29 | 33 | 47 | 61 | 72 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 63 | 47 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 1.1 | 1.4 | 2.1 | 3.8 | 4.6 | 5.6 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 3.6 | 3.0 | 2.2 | 1.6 |
January is the driest month (1.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 5.6 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Solon →
Questions about parks and trails in Solon
Where can I hike in Solon?
The longest trail networks: Solon Recreation and Nature Area, 0.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Solon is conserved land?
8% 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 Solon’s trails?
Solon Recreation and Nature Area and Randall Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Solon?
4.7 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.4 of painted or protected lanes and 2.3 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Solon?
20,717 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Solon or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 121 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Solon have?
Ahead of 91% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #7 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 Solon 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 →