Hickory Hill Park

This is a great park which sprawls over Iowa City’s northeastern side, bordered by cemeteries on its west and the 1^st Avenue extension on its east. The land came from the Irish family, the last daughter/​granddaughter Jane Irish died in the late 1960s but she had given the land, mostly wooded, at some point before then. Ralston creek runs through it. There is a shelter on the north side and a shelter on the south side by Rochester Avenue. People love to walk, jog, and walk their dogs here. They make a calendar each year, «Friends of Hickory Hill Park», which is sold in Northside businesses.

Hickory Hill is the best place in Iowa City to reconnect with nature. It is a wonderful place to hike, bike ride, and explore! There are so many beautiful sights to be seen, especially in the fall. It’s a wonderful way to escape from daily life.

Has great walking trails that are fairly active, so you should see quite a few hikers, runners, and people walking dogs. These trails aren’t far from the city itself, so not a getaway but a nice place to see some nature and relax a little bit.
They have maps of the trails before you venture off, you can get a few miles in with some decent scenery. I enjoyed my first walk here and would love to come back and take a different path.

This park is really great and in the heart of Iowa City. I had no clue how big it was and how near it was to my house until I was looking at a map of Iowa City and decided to check it out. Now I’m hooked; it’s a beautiful place to go for a walk and escape for a bit. It’s over 180 acres with lots of wonderful trails so you could easily spend an hour or two just wandering around. There’s some parking and at least two roofed but open shelters that you can rent. It’s usually not too busy — a few runners, walkers, and people with dogs. The area is mostly pretty wooded and a bit hilly, although there are some prairie sections too.

This is a really nice little park located in the heart of Iowa City. The park boasts 185 acres space that includes a couple seating areas, picnic tables, and grilling areas. There are a couple entrances — one from Conklin and the other from Bloomington. Plenty of room to run around, play with the dogs or hang and grill with friends. Parking lot is a nice, small contained area off the main street.
One of a good number of parks, located within neighborhoods, that provide a place to go relax outside, meet up with friends or just rest during a bike ride. Good place to check out.