Parks

PUBLIC

Cedar Falls City Parks (319) 273-8624

Big Woods Lake Recreation Area Big Woods Rd.
320-acre park offers picnic areas, trails, fishing lake, and boat ramp.

Birdsall Park 3205 W. 12th St.
This 250-acre park includes picnic areas, a fishing lake, playground, lighted ball diamonds, cross-country skiing, hockey/ice-skating, sand volleyball, and horseshoe pits. Facilities also include Pheasant Ridge's 18-hole golf course.

Gateway Park Lincoln St. & Main St. Bridge
This 15-acre park offers picnic areas, biking and hiking trails, fishing stream, and playground.

Island Park Center St.
A 104-acre park features picnic areas, biking & hiking trails, fishing stream, boat ramp, playground, snowmobiling, disc golf, sand volleyball, and wildlife refuge. A beach house at this location is also available for rent through the Cedar Falls Recreation Division.

Lookout Park Park Dr. and Mandalay Dr.
This 4-acre park includes picnic areas, hiking trails along scenic ravines, playground, basketball court, and wildlife refuge.

Orchard Hill Park McClain Dr. at Primrose
An 8-acre park featuring picnic areas, tennis courts, ball diamonds, and basketball courts.

Overman Park W. 2nd between Clay & Franklin
3 acres of picnic and dog exercise areas.

Paw Park S. Main & Hwy. 58 Overpass
3 acres of leashless dog exercising area.

Pfeiffer Spring Park Grand Blvd. & Birch St.
This 10-acre park features picnic areas, trails, playground, ball diamonds, basketball courts, and a wildlife refuge.

Prairie Lakes Park SE Corner of Viking & Hudson Rds.
A 165 acre park with picnic areas, trails, fishing lake, boat ramp, playground, and wildlife refuge.

Sturgis Park W. 1st between Main & Franklin
9 acres of picnic areas, trails, and fishing stream. The park is located near the Ice House Museum, Rapp Station Tourist Information Center, Little Red Schoolhouse Museum, and River Wall. 

Tourist Park Center St., Franklin St. Bridge
This 10-acre park features picnic areas, trails, fishing stream, wild life refuge, and disc golf course. Located near the riverfront.

Ulrich Park West of W. 1st on Union Rd.
A 101 acre park with picnic areas, trails, and wildlife refuge. Located near the riverfront and woodland.

Waterloo City Parks (319) 291-4370

Byrnes Park W. 4th St. & Fletcher Ave.
This 170-acre park features picnic areas, pool and waterslide, tennis courts, playground, ball diamonds, cross-country skiing, hockey/ice-skating, horseshoes, basketball, and golf course. Park facilities are handicap accessible.

Cedar River/Exchange Park Park Rd. & Burton Ave.
A 104-acre handicap accessible park with picnic areas, hiking trails, swimming pool, fishing stream, boat ramp, playground, cross-country skiing, disc golf, tennis courts, wildlife refuge, ball diamonds, ice skating/hockey, horseshoes, volleyball, and football field.

Gates Park E. 4th & Lester St.
A 235-acre park with picnic areas, pool and waterslide, playground, tennis courts, ball diamonds, cross-country skiing, rugby, basketball, & golf. Park facilities are handicap accessible.

Katoski Greenbelt W. of Hwy. 63
This 1,100-acre park offers primitive camping, picnicking, biking and hiking trails, as well as a fishing lake and stream, and cross-country skiing. You can also watch a variety of wildlife and enjoy the scenery of the Native Iowa Prairie Restoration. Park facilities are handicap accessible and camping is available.

Lincoln Park E. 4th and Mulberry St.
A 2-acre park with a picnic area and flower garden. Park facilities are handicap accessible.

Martin Park Fletcher Ave. and Hwy. 63
A 188-acre park with modern campsites available. Also includes picnic areas, hiking trails, fishing stream, playground, ball diamonds, cross-country skiing, and wildlife refuge. Park facilities are handicap accessible and camping is available.

Riverview Recreation Area E. Hawthorne Ave.
This recreational area features a fishing river and boat ramp.

Sullivan Park E. 4th & Adams St.
This 8-acre park offers picnic areas, playground, the Sullivan Brothers Memorial Ball Diamond, basketball, and flower garden. Park facilities are handicap accessible.

Valley View Park Maynard Ave. & Letsch Rd.
12 acres of picnic areas and bike trails. Park facilities are handicap accessible.

Washington Park W. Park Ave. & South St.
A 2-acre park with picnic areas and flower gardens. Park facilities are handicap accessible.

Black Hawk County Parks

Hartman Reserve Nature Center 657 Reserve Dr., Cedar Falls
This 295-acre wildlife refuge offers biking and hiking trails, fishing stream and lake, boat ramp, hunting, interpretive lodge, and cross-country skiing. Park facilities are handicap accessible.

Camping

Iowa State Parks

George Wyth State Park- Highway 218 and 57, Cedar Falls, (319) 232-5505
Experience the convenience of camping in the Cedar Falls/Waterloo metropolitan area. The 1,100-acre park includes modern campsites, picnic areas, hiking and biking trails, beach, sail boating, windsurfing, fishing stream and lakes, boat ramp, playgrounds, cross-country skiing, hockey/ice skating, snowmobiling, and prairie reconstruction. Park facilities are handicap accessible. The George Wyth State Park campground has 69 camping units (47 with 20,30, or 50-amp electrical hookups). The campground features modern showers, restrooms and a trailer dumping station.

Other great features of George Wyth State Park include:

• Water Recreation
  • Brinker Lake: 120 acres, open for power boating
  • George Wyth Lake: 75 acres, no wake lake with handicap accessible fishing pier, includes George Wyth beach, one of the area's most popular swimming attractions
  • Fisher Lake: 40 acre natural lake
  • Alice Wyth Lake: 60 acres, electric motors only
  • Cedar River

Reservations can be made for half the campsites by going to www.reserveiaparks.com or by calling toll-free 1-877-427-2527. The balance of the campsites are on a first come/first serve basis.

Black Hawk County Parks 

Black Hawk Park-2410 W. Lone Tree Rd., Cedar Falls, (319)266-6813 or 266-0328
This 1,768-acre park offers modern campsites, picnic areas, hiking, biking and bridle trails, fishing stream and lake, boat ramp, hunting, playground, ball diamond, cross-country skiing, hockey/ice skating, archery-gun-sporting, clay ranges, and lodge. Park facilities are handicap accessible. Black Hawk Park features two campground areas. Cedar campground features an open layout, while Fogdall campground has individual sites. The campgrounds combined feature 176 electrical sites and 21 full-hookup sites and 13 electrical sites in Fogdall.

Other great features of Black Hawk Park include:

• Self-registration
• Water, flush toilets, showers
• Dump stations
• Playground equipment
• Direct access to Cedar Valley Trails Network
• Horse shoe pitching courts
• Designed sites available for reservations
• Resident Park Ranger/Campground Host

Campground fees
Campers must self-register within one hour

• Unit per night: $11.00
• With electricity per night: $15.00
• Full hook-up sites: $18.00
• Reservation fee: $15.00
• Coupon books, 14 coupons: $190.00/$230.00 

Hickory Hills Park-3338 Hickory Hills Road, La Porte City, (319)342-3350
Hickory Hills Park is a modern camping area that consists of 80 RV sites surrounding a large tent camping area. Electricity is available at each of the RV sites, community water hydrants are scattered throughout the area and full-hookups have been added to 10 sites.

Other great features of Hickory Hills Park include:

• Showers
• Laundry facilities
• Flush toilets
• Dump station
• Casey Lake
  • Managed for largemouth bass, channel catfish, blue gill and crappies
  • Boat motor use is restriced to electric only
• Archery Course

Campground fees
Campers must self-register within one hour

• Unit per night: $11.00
• With electricity per night: $15.00
• Reservation fee: $15.00
• Coupon books, 14 coupons: $190.00/$230.00

McFarlane Park-13619 King Road, La Porte, (319)342-3844
A 5-acre campground equipped with a modern shower house and dump station. There are 76 electrical outlets and numerous water hydrants. The rolling topography of terraces and floodplain is heavily timbered. The timber provides shade for park visitors and habitat for wildlife.

Other great features of McFarlance Park include:

• Over 2 miles of walking trails leading to wildlife, trees, woodland flowers and scenic meadows. The trail is adjacent to the Cedar Valley Nature Trail.
• Small boats can access the Cedar River and Wolf Creek
  • Cedar River is popular for:
    • Small mouth bass, catfish and walleye fishing
    • Popular stream for canoes, with several accesses both upstream and downstream from McFarlane Park
• Hunting in the eastern portion of the park.

Campground fees:

• Unit per night: $11.00
• With electricity per night: $15.00
• Reservation fee: $15.00
• Coupon books, 14 coupons: $190.00/$230.00 

 Private

Antique Acres-7610 Waverly Road, Cedar Falls, (319) 987-2380
Open May through October. A modern 70-site campground. Antique Acres is a private organization whose members own, preserve and display working examples of antique threshing, steam, plowing and saw milling machinery. Antique Acres was incorporated in 1964 to purchase 80 acres of land and to organize what has become an annual "Old Time Power SHow," held each August on this site. A museum on the grounds features a large collection of old farm machinery, including items more than 100 years old.

Public

Big Woods Park- Big Woods Road, Cedar Falls, (319)273-8624
This 320-acre park features a 65-acre lake, created by sand and gravel extraction, a 10-acre natural prairie was installed in 2001. New RV campground to be constructed in the N.E. corner of the park. Fishing in the lake is permitted, swimming is not.