Ag Museum Park
Managed by Brown County Historical Society
28 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Hiawatha National Guard Armory · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Hiawatha
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Hiawatha
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 96 acres are parks and preserves, 30 per 1,000 residents. 1.0 miles of mapped trail cross Hiawatha, 0.4 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 80% of U.S. towns · #15 of 151 in Kansas. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
62 acres · of 2.6 sq mi of land
Trails
1.0 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
96 ac
30 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Hiawatha?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Hiawatha have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Hiawatha is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns, #15 of 151 in Kansas. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park ranks highest, conserved land lowest.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Hiawatha’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical KS town 2% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · KS 0.2 · U.S. 0.4BPark land30 acres of park per 1,000 residents (96 acres) · KS 13 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · KS 76% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 80%
LessMore
Kansas towns of 2,500+ (151)Ahead of 91%
Few Kansas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Hiawatha’s 4% is ahead of 74% of Kansas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 61% of them.
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 Ag Museum Park, with 0.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Bruning Park
Managed by Hiawatha Parks and Recreation
30 acres
Dogs on leash
No trailhead mapped yet
Noble Park
Managed by Hiawatha Parks and Rec
13 acres0.1 mi of trail
Hiawatha Walking Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 9 parks & preserves
Ag Museum Park28 acres · 0.4 mi of trail · Brown County Historical Society
DirectionsCounty Court House Park3 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
DirectionsNoble Park13 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · Hiawatha Parks and Rec
DirectionsBruning Park30 acres · Hiawatha Parks and Recreation
Starr Park4 acres · Hiawatha Parks and Recreation
Crestview Park2 acres · Hiawatha Parks and Rec;Hiawatha Parks & Recreation
DirectionsKiddie Korral1 acres
DirectionsHatfield Park1 acres · Hiawatha Parks and Rec
Fisher Community Center Park1 acres · City of Hiawatha
DirectionsWho protects it
62 conserved acres
4% of Hiawatha’s land. Who manages Hiawatha’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city60 ac
County2 ac
Local Park · 44 acLocal Recreation Area · 17 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Noble Ball Park & Hiawatha Aquatic Center Local Park | Town or city | 38 | Open |
| Bruning Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 17 | Open |
| Pottawatomie St Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Courthouse Park Local Park | County | 2 | Open |
Things to do
9 places to go in Hiawatha
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Hiawatha
Bruning Park PlaygroundIn Bruning Park
DirectionsJunior Hawk Playground
DirectionsKiddie KorralIn Kiddie Korral
DirectionsUnited Methodist Playground
DirectionsPlus 4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Disc golf in Hiawatha
Hiawatha Disk Golf CourseIn Noble Park · Hiawatha Parks and Rec
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Hiawatha Walking Trail0.2 mi
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
8Baseball
6Soccer
5Tennis
4Basketball
2Football
1Skate park
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →5 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 8 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Hiawatha Memorial AuditoriumBuilding · listed 1985
About itHiawatha National Guard ArmoryBuilding · listed 2004
About itHiawatha Courthouse Square Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2006
About itSamuel Bierer HouseBuilding · listed 2010
About itWilliam and Augusta Guild HouseBuilding · listed 2024
About itWhen to get out
The walking year in Hiawatha
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 | 15.0 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 36 | 42 | 54 | 65 | 75 | 84 | 88 | 86 | 79 | 67 | 52 | 40 |
| Rain (in) | 0.7 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 3.6 | 5.0 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 2.9 | 1.8 | 1.3 |
January is the driest month (0.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 5.0 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Hiawatha →
Questions about parks and trails in Hiawatha
Where can I hike in Hiawatha?
The longest trail networks: Ag Museum Park, 0.4 miles; County Court House Park, 0.3 miles; Noble Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Hiawatha is conserved land?
4% of its land, against a typical 2% for a Kansas town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Hiawatha’s trails?
OpenStreetMap records dogs as welcome at County Court House Park (on leash) and Bruning Park (on leash). For the rest, check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Hiawatha?
318 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Hiawatha or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 96 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Hiawatha have?
Ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #15 of 151 in Kansas. 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 Hiawatha 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 →