1
Saylorville Lake Project
Managed by United States Army Corps of Engineers
1,121 acres6.1 mi of trail
Low LineSwan SongLake LoopLow Life LoopTop Shelf
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
Outdoors · Johnston
Johnston, IA parks, trails & bike paths
About 12% of Johnston is conserved land, roughly 1,568 acres. There are about 28 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Saylorville Lake Project (6.1 mi), Beaver Creek Natural Resources Area (4.1 mi), and Terra Park (1.2 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Johnston, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Johnston outdoors
Conserved land
12%
1,568 of 13,334 acres
Trails
28 mi
1.3 mi per sq mi · 12 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
25
64 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
55.4 mi
0.0 mi lanes · 55.4 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
Beaver Creek Natural Resources Area
Nature preserve
189 acres4.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
3
Terra Park
Park
35 acres1.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
4
Lew Clarkson Park
Managed by City of Johnston
63 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
All 25 parks & preserves
Showing 1–10 of 25 parks & preserves
Saylorville Lake Project1,121 acres · 6.1 mi of trail · United States Army Corps of Engineers
Beaver Creek Natural Resources Area189 acres · 4.1 mi of trail
Terra Park35 acres · 1.2 mi of trail
Lew Clarkson Park63 acres · 0.4 mi of trail · City of Johnston
Johnston Commons16 acres · 0.2 mi of trail · City of Johnston
Dewey Park10 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Pointe Vista Park12 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · City of Johnston
Adventure Ridge Park8 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · City of Johnston
The Yard1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · City of Johnston
Splash Pad1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · City of Johnston
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Playgrounds in Johnston
Showing 1–10 of 39 playgrounds
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground in Providence Pointe
Unnamed playground in Adventure Ridge Park
Unnamed playground in Adventure Ridge Park
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground in Pointe Vista Park
Trails
Named trails
Open to bikes 13.7 miUnpaved 10.1 mi
- Low Line1.4 mi
- Top Shelf1.1 mi
- Swan Song1.1 mi
- Lake Loop0.8 mi
- Low Life Loop0.6 mi
- Pump Track Loop0.4 mi
- High Life Loop0.2 mi
- Sycamore Trail0.2 mi
Water
Lakes & rivers
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
1,568 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes0.0 mi
- Off-road bike paths55.4 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.0 mi
- Low Line Trail (bike route)1.6 mi
- Lake Loop (bike route)1.4 mi
- Top Shelf Trail (bike route)1.2 mi
- Swan Song (bike route)1.1 mi
Courts & fields
- Soccer27
- Tennis23
- Basketball18
- Softball18
- Baseball12
- Tracks4
- Multi-sport4
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Johnston
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
Recreation Management Area 1,270 acLocal Park 299 ac
Showing 1–10 of 13 places
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saylorville Recreation AreaRecreation Management Area | Army Corps of Engineers | 1,270 | Open |
| Beaver Creek Natural Resource AreaLocal Park | Town or city | 158 | Open |
| Lew Clarkson ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 46 | Open |
| Terra LakeLocal Park | Town or city | 35 | Open |
| Northview WetlandsLocal Park | Town or city | 12 | Open |
| Dewey ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 11 | Open |
| Pointe Vista ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 10 | Open |
| Prairie Point CrossingLocal Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Crown PointLocal Park | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Adventure Ridge ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
History
Historic places to visit
LTV A-7D Corsair IIIn Tank Hill · Aircraft
LTV A-7K Corsair IIAircraft
Lockheed NF-80C Shooting StarAircraft
M47 PattonIn Tank Hill · Memorial
M60In Tank Hill · Memorial
Republic F-84F ThunderstreakAircraft
Kinsey-Lawson CemeteryCemetery
Ridgedale CemeteryCemetery
Rittgers CemeteryCemetery
Nearby
Johnston and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Johnston'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 21.2-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.