Van Meter Recreation Complex
Park
53 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Mostly Iowa Edits · CC BY-SA 4.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Van Meter
Van Meter has 86 acres of parks, 53 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Van Meter Recreation Complex (0.5 mi). 67% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1.1 miles of mapped trail cross Van Meter, 0.3 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 52% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
25 acres · of 4.4 sq mi of land
Trails
1.1 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
86 ac
53 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
67%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.4 mi
0.4 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
1 boat launch
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Van Meter have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Van Meter is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Van Meter’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical IA town 3% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · IA 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land53 acres of park per 1,000 residents (86 acres) · IA 19 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home67% 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 52%
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
The longest trail network is Van Meter Recreation Complex, with 0.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Johnson Park
Park
7 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
25 conserved acres
1% of Van Meter’s land. Who manages Van Meter’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County25 ac
Local Park · 25 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trindle Park Local Park | County | 25 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Van Meter
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Van Meter
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Van Meter
1 boat launch without a name on the map.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.4 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.4 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
10Soccer
7Baseball
2Tracks
1Basketball
1Football
1Softball
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).
Robert William Andrew Feller FarmsteadDistrict · listed 1999
About itWhen to get out
The walking year in Van Meter
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) | 31 | 36 | 49 | 62 | 72 | 82 | 85 | 83 | 77 | 64 | 48 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 0.9 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 3.7 | 5.0 | 4.8 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 2.5 | 1.7 | 1.3 |
January is the driest month (0.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 5.0 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Van Meter →
Next door
Van Meter and its neighbors
Van Meter has the second most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Van Meter | 1% | 0.3 | 53 | 67% | B− |
| Waukee | 1% | 0.4 | 7 | 92% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Van Meter
Where can I hike in Van Meter?
The longest trail networks: Van Meter Recreation Complex, 0.5 miles; Trindle Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Van Meter 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 Van Meter’s trails?
Van Meter Recreation Complex and Trindle Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Van Meter?
0.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.4 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Van Meter?
6,184 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Van Meter or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 86 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Van Meter have?
Ahead of 52% 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 Van Meter 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 →