1
Waterworks Park
Park
134 acres0.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
Outdoors · Fairfield
Fairfield, IA parks, trails & bike paths
About 5.5% of Fairfield is conserved land, roughly 237 acres. There are about 4.8 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Waterworks Park (0.9 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Fairfield, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Fairfield outdoors
Conserved land
5.5%
237 of 4,306 acres
Trails
4.8 mi
0.7 mi per sq mi · 1 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
11
25 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
7.6 mi
0.5 mi lanes · 7.2 mi off-road paths
Conserved land is a share of the whole town area. Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number or a place below to zoom in© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Parks & preserves with trails
Ranked by mapped trail miles. Directions go to the nearest marked trailhead or public parking.
2
Central Park
Park
2 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
3
Chautauqua Park
Park
66 acres
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
4
Jefferson County Park
Park
38 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 11 parks & preserves
Showing 1–10 of 11 parks & preserves
Waterworks Park134 acres · 0.9 mi of trail
Central Park2 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Chautauqua Park66 acres
Jefferson County Park38 acres
O. B. Nelson Park22 acres
JCHC Park6 acres
Heritage Park3 acres
Southwood Park3 acres
Howard Park2 acres · City of Fairfield
Forest Park1 acres
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Playgrounds in Fairfield
Showing 1–10 of 15 playgrounds
Unnamed playground in O. B. Nelson Park
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground in Howard Park
Unnamed playground in Waterworks Park
Unnamed playground in Waterworks Park
Unnamed playground in Waterworks Park
Unnamed playground in Waterworks Park
Unnamed playground in Forest Park
Water
Lakes & rivers
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
237 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes0.5 mi
- Off-road bike paths7.2 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.0 mi
Courts & fields
- Tennis20
- Baseball9
- Soccer4
- Pickleball4
- Basketball2
- Beach volleyball1
- Football1
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Fairfield
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
Local Park 226 acLocal Recreation Area 11 ac
Showing 1–10 of 12 places
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waterworks ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 106 | Open |
| Chatauqua ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 63 | Open |
| Jefferson County ParkLocal Park | County | 24 | Open |
| Ob Nelson ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 23 | Open |
| Fairfield Little LeagueLocal Recreation Area | Town or city | 7 | Open |
| Roosevelt Recreation & Aquatic CenterLocal Recreation Area | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Southwood ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Heritage ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Central ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Howard ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
History
Historic places to visit
Maharishi Tower of InvincibilityMonument
Evergreen CemeteryCemetery
Memorial Lawn CemeteryCemetery
Old Fairfield CemeteryCemetery
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Fairfield's trails yet. Muddy, icy, a bridge out, where to park: a quick post helps the next person.
Sources: trails, parks, preserves, courts and bike lanes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), map data as of 2026-09-28. Conserved land: USGS Gap Analysis Project, Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US). Measured against the Census town boundary.
How we measure
"Trails" are OpenStreetMap paths, bridleways, public tracks and unpaved footways, plus footways inside a park or preserve or on a named trail route. Sidewalks are left out. Areas are counted on a 20-meter grid, so overlapping parcels count once. "Conserved" includes conservation easements, which protect land from development but are usually private property. Trailheads are the nearest marked trailhead, public parking lot or information board within about 150 meters of a preserve. Dog rules come from OpenStreetMap when someone has tagged them; otherwise we show what's typical for the land manager, or say the rules aren't recorded.