1
Riverside Park
Park
231 acres3.3 mi of trail
Bill Mills Nature Trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
Outdoors · Bismarck
Bismarck, ND parks, trails & bike paths
About 8.4% of Bismarck is conserved land, roughly 1,938 acres. There are about 41 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Riverside Park (3.3 mi), Cottonwood Park (2.6 mi), and Atkinson Nature Park (2 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Bismarck, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Bismarck outdoors
Conserved land
8.4%
1,938 of 23,174 acres
Trails
41 mi
1.1 mi per sq mi · 18 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
45
26 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
32.0 mi
1.8 mi lanes · 30.2 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
Cottonwood Park
Park
183 acres2.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
3
Atkinson Nature Park
Park
143 acres2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
4
Lions Park
Park
40 acres1.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
5
Capitol Grounds Native Prairie
Park
28 acres0.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
6
Southland Park
Park
9 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
7
Bismarck Conservation and Outdoor Skills Area
Park
48 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
8
Chief Lookings Village
Park
9 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
All 45 parks & preserves
Showing 1–10 of 45 parks & preserves
Riverside Park231 acres · 3.3 mi of trail
Cottonwood Park183 acres · 2.6 mi of trail
Atkinson Nature Park143 acres · 2 mi of trail
Lions Park40 acres · 1.2 mi of trail
Capitol Grounds Native Prairie28 acres · 0.9 mi of trail
Southland Park9 acres · 0.7 mi of trail
Bismarck Conservation and Outdoor Skills Area48 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
Chief Lookings Village9 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
Capitol Mall8 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
Igoe Park5 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Playgrounds in Bismarck
Showing 1–10 of 50 playgrounds
Elks Aquatic CenterFee
Elks Aquatic CenterFee
Unnamed playground in Riverside Park
Unnamed playground in Riverside Park
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground in South Meadows Park
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
24 more unnamed playgrounds are mapped in Bismarck.
Trails
Named trails
Open to bikes 1.9 miHorses 1.7 miUnpaved 9.2 mi
- Bill Mills Nature Trail0.8 mi
- 66th Street Northeast0.4 mi
Water
Lakes & rivers
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
1,938 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes1.8 mi
- Off-road bike paths30.2 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.0 mi
Courts & fields
- Baseball65
- Soccer50
- Tennis33
- Basketball27
- Volleyball11
- Football6
- Pickleball6
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Bismarck
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
Local Park 1,202 acState Resource Management Area 671 acState Historic or Cultural Area 43 acLocal Recreation Area 25 acState Park 21 ac
Showing 1–10 of 15 places
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nd State Lands - Surface OwnershipState Resource Management Area | State land board | 671 | Open |
| Cottonwood ParkLocal Park | Regional agency | 186 | Open |
| Walt Neuen'S Horse ArenaLocal Park | Regional agency | 128 | Open |
| Pioneer ParkLocal Park | Regional agency | 89 | Open |
| Pebble Creek Recreation AreaLocal Park | Regional agency | 87 | Open |
| Valley Drive GreenwayLocal Park | Regional agency | 71 | Open |
| Unknown ParkLocal Park | Regional agency | 65 | Open |
| Hay Creek ParkLocal Park | Regional agency | 57 | Open |
| Riverside ParkLocal Park | Regional agency | 56 | Open |
| Johnny Gisi Memorial ParkLocal Park | Regional agency | 52 | Open |
History
Historic places to visit
All Veterans MemorialMonument
Merci TrainTraincar
Pioneer FamilyIn Capitol Mall · Monument
Fairview CemeteryCemetery
Saint Marys CemeteryCemetery
Sunset Memorial GardenCemetery
Nearby
Bismarck and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bismarck | 8.4% | 40.5 mi | 45 |
| Hay Creek | 0.2% | 13.4 mi | 1 |
| Gibbs | 4% | 30.4 mi | 3 |
| Apple Creek | 2.5% | 23.1 mi | 0 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Bismarck'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 26.3-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.