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Ryerson's Woods State Preserve
4.6 ★★★★★ 115 Google reviews · Running trail in Iowa City, Iowa · Posted hours
Runner's snapshot
- Surface
- Not reported
- Loop distance
- Not reported
- Shape
- Loop
- Shade
- Tree cover
- Access
- Posted hours
Confirmed from Ryerson's Woods State Preserve's own listing, the park or land manager's website, and runner reviews. Blank cells mean we could not verify that fact — we would rather say "not reported" than invent one. There is no Easy / Moderate / Hard rating on this page on purpose: a one-word difficulty score tells you nothing about whether a trail suits your run. Surface, distance, shade and hours do.
What runners say about Ryerson's Woods State Preserve
Good for a walk of reasonable length at any time of year. Some great wide paths and some deer trails that humans use. Wild flowers, mushrooms, old growth forest non of which is far from the parking lot or the county fairgrounds. Totally worth a visit.
Nice trails and loved the natural stairs and twist and turns and forks in the trails. Would be nice to have trail signs along the way.
This is the best nature hiking trail I have found yet in the Iowa City area. There is no trail map on any bulletin board. And it a nature trail and not a suburb trail. It is not handicap accessible and only a little bit of the start is blacktopped so those in wheelchairs and walkers need not bother coming here.
I took children and adults on an educational hike in Ryerson's Woods. One advantage of this site is that it is lifted above the floodplane during an unusually rainy autumn. However, it is near the fairgrounds and we could hear kids practing horseback riding, which distracted my class.
Trail conditions & character
“The Woods is on a hill, so there are steep sections to reach the top, flat hiking area, but there are stairs built into the trail.”
“There’s a lookout towards the back of the property as well and a shelter area by the parking lot to have a picnic.”
“It is wooded, there are resting benches, a few picnic tables.”
“The steps at the beginning are pretty steep and very uneven but the rest of the trail is super flat and easy to traverse.”
“It is not handicap accessible and only a little bit of the start is blacktopped so those in wheelchairs and walkers need not bother coming here.”
“The trails are unmarked, but it was easy to create my own map by exploring the trails once in advance of class, and the trails loop back on themselves.”
Plan your run at Ryerson's Woods State Preserve
The practical stuff
- AccessPosted hours — posted hours below; park gates sometimes close earlier than the listing says
- DistanceNot reported. Trail systems often quote total path mileage rather than a single loop, so measure the route you actually want before you drive out.
- ShadeRunners describe real tree cover here — it makes a summer afternoon workable
- At the trailheadparking — reported by runners
- Stroller / wheelchairReported as smooth and step-free enough for a running stroller or a chair.
- Websiteicgov.org
- Phone+1 319-356-5100
Hours
| Monday | 6 am–10 pm |
| Tuesday | 6 am–10 pm |
| Wednesday | 6 am–10 pm |
| Thursday | 6 am–10 pm |
| Friday | 6 am–10 pm |
| Saturday | 6 am–10 pm |
| Sunday | 6 am–10 pm |
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Other trails within easy driving distance — useful when this one is flooded, gated, or just not the run you had in mind today.
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Compact green space featuring bridges, picnic tables, a dog park, concerts, and a creek.