Hayes Timber
Nature preserve
34 acres0.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Billwhittaker at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Washington
Washington has 187 acres of parks, 26 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Hayes Timber (0.9 mi). 3.4 miles of mapped trail cross Washington, 0.6 per square mile of land. 80% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 69% of U.S. towns · #63 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
89 acres · of 5.4 sq mi of land
Trails
3.4 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
187 ac
26 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
80%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.4 mi
1.4 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Washington?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Washington have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Washington is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns, #63 of 140 in Iowa. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Washington’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical IA town 3% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · IA 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land26 acres of park per 1,000 residents (187 acres) · IA 19 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home80% 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 69%
LessMore
Iowa towns of 2,500+ (140)Ahead of 55%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B 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 Hayes Timber, with 0.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
All 5 parks & preserves
Hayes Timber34 acres · 0.9 mi of trail
DirectionsSunset Park39 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsSesquicentennial Park4 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsCentral Park2 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Washington County Fair47 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
89 conserved acres
3% of Washington’s land. Who manages Washington’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County44 ac
Town or city44 ac
Local Park · 52 acLocal Conservation Area · 36 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunset Park Local Park | Town or city | 38 | Open |
| Hayes Timber Local Conservation Area | County | 36 | Open |
| Kewash Nature Trail. Local Park | County | 8 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Central Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
7 places to go in Washington
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Washington
7 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
1.4 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.4 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
12Baseball
3Football
2Basketball
2Tennis
1Equestrian
1Beach volleyball
1Skate park
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →13 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Blair HouseBuilding · listed 1973
About itAlexander Young CabinBuilding · listed 1973
About itJonathan Clark Conger HouseBuilding · listed 1974
About itKurtz HouseBuilding · listed 1977
About itJoseph Keck HouseBuilding · listed 1978
About itFrank Stewart HouseBuilding · listed 1987
About itCM and StP Railroad UnderpassStructure · listed 1998
About itSmith Wildman and Jennie (Hearne) Brookhart HouseBuilding · listed 2005
About itWashington Downtown Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2013
About itBaxter, H.A., Coal Company Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2015
About itMcCleery Calendar FactoryBuilding · listed 2015
About itWoodlawn Cemetery Gates and ShelterBuilding · listed 2016
About it1 more on the History page.
When to get out
The best walking months in Washington: 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 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.1 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 31 | 36 | 49 | 62 | 72 | 81 | 85 | 83 | 77 | 64 | 49 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 1.3 | 1.6 | 2.4 | 3.8 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 3.6 | 3.1 | 2.3 | 1.7 |
January is the driest month (1.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 5.2 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Washington →
Questions about parks and trails in Washington
Where can I hike in Washington?
The longest trail networks: Hayes Timber, 0.9 miles; Sunset Park, 0.2 miles; Sesquicentennial Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Washington 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 Washington’s trails?
Hayes Timber and Washington County Fair don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Washington?
1.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.4 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Washington?
1,548 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Washington or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 187 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Washington have?
Ahead of 69% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #63 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 Washington 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 →