Best corse in Ames love the driving range lots of balls for a great price. I tip my hat to the…read moregrounds crew this place has only gotten better throughout the years. I love being my friends and family here to golf and spend the afternoon. Corse plays true, fun par 3s and long par 5's, I would say this is one of the best public courses in the area. If you love golf, golf here!!!

Golf course in terrible condition. No staff to take care of the course. Pretty sure the…read moresuperintendent is just a con artist with no actual knowledge on how to care for the course. Sad that the course is in this bad of condition. It used to be a fun course to play.

Wowwww This is the park of all parks!…read more Worth the drive from Des Moines to Madrid, Iowa. Great "tree museum" if that's what you want to call it but it was very educational and well worth the time and money. Visited on a Friday morning with our homeschool community and it was a busy morning. Reserved a guided tour months prior for our large group and paid extra for the tree house playground experience. The guided tour was absolutely fascinating and our group learned so much about how to identify different types of trees and plants. The gardens are awesome even in the fall. Worth a second or third trip for the different seasons we have here in Iowa. The playground was MASSIVE and newly built. All wooded and just a walk away from the arboretum. My kids and the other students really enjoyed this playground. Safe and fun. Found lots of accessibility for all to play Highly

A lovely spot in the middle of Iowa. Offering classes, initiating preservation of monarch butterfly…read morehabitat, building pollinator gardens, and quiet places for a walk. Entry fee for non-members is $10 per person with reduced rates for children. Open year-round to the public, this sanctuary has facilities for meetings, parties, weddings, etc. A number of trails allow you to walk through the different gardens and enjoy and ever changing display throughout the year. We were so pleasantly surprised at this little slice of paradise so far off the beaten path. Established in the early 1980s by an Iowa family that owned a nursery in the region. Bird watchers, gardeners, and anyone that just enjoys beautiful flowers should check out the Iowa Arboretum.

This is such a lovely place to be! It's peaceful and clean. Also great for fishing. Definitely a…read moregreat place to clear your head and enjoy nature. The paved walkway is a huge plus and the map in the parking lot is quite helpful. It's very well maintained too. There are a lot of fun information boards along the path to read about the wildlife in the park as well. Ada Hayden is great for solo trips, or to bring your family and explore. All around, it's very accommodating to anyone who wants a little fresh air :)

This gem, located on the north end of Ames on Highway 69, is a sensational 137-acre mingling of…read morewildlife, water, picnics, family fun, fishing, running, walking, cycling, and birding that debuted over 20 years ago. It's named after Ada Hayden, an Ames native who graduated from Ames High and was a celebrated botanist and wildlife connoisseur who was the first woman to receive a Ph.D. from nearby Iowa State College (now Iowa State University). A City of Ames venue, with assistance from Iowa's Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Ada Hayden Heritage Park is an oasis at the top end of a growing college town. It is a wonderful place to relax and enjoy nature. Plenty of parking with lots on the north and south ends of the park, and the venue is handicap accessible. There is a walking path that cyclists also use, and it ranges from 1.2 to 3.2 miles in length. Dogs must be leashed. There is a beautiful bridge in the center of the large lake, and there were at least five bird species that day. According to a local, the lake is stocked with Rainbow Trout and Striped Bass by the Iowa DNR, and fishing is allowed, but not on the bridge. Boats without gas motors are allowed. There are many spots to sit and relax, with numerous picnic tables and a covered area available. Beer and liquor are prohibited. It is gorgeous and a wonderful tribute to an elite Ames contributor who was also a pioneer in her field. I'm looking forward to visiting again!

Photo taken 4/24/26…read more This is such a lovely place! We have been here several times, and we love it each time we visit. We've been here twice on field trips with my child's class, and several other times outside of that. There is an information center and plenty of outdoor activities. It's very well maintained, and the staff here are all wonderful. It's definitely a fun place for fishing or just simply walking around and enjoying nature. For those that enjoy birdwatching, this is also a great location to do so. The information center has quite a few activities for anyone interested in learning about any type of nature. You can ask for kits to inspect tadpoles or water creatures as well as binoculars for birdwatching. There's also a natural play structure for kids to explore. It's so peaceful and serene; this also makes it perfect for a picnic! There is a path that goes around the water, and there are also a few gazebos and benches for you to stop at to take a break or just enjoy the day.

This is a really neat park north east of Ames. It's the home of the Story County Conservation…read moreCenter and a lot of classes and programming. There are some deceptively long hiking trails here that will let you traverse the various biomes of the state of Iowa. There are wooded, riparian and native prarire areas along trails immediately adjacent to the park and it also serves as a great launching point and connector for the Skunk River Greenbelt system of trails that continue to the north. There are primitive campsites and mutli-use hiking and biking trails. There is actually a lot to do outside in Story County, it's just not obvious & McFarland Park is a great place to get acquainted.

Pretty pretty park! Has ample parking spots and the long trail. I keep visiting this park at least…read moreonce in 2 weeks. Easy to locate and located in the perfect neighborhood.

Great Local park. Play ground, pavilions, picnic tables,…read moregrills. Come see for your self.

We love this carousel. Unfortunately we didn't see the signs on Hwy 35 that used to advertise the…read morecarousel. We thought it had closed. It is happily still open and only $1. Stop by and help save the carousel. Only a few minutes off the freeway.

Gayle and I recently took a spin on the historical 1913 antique carousel. It was spinning during…read morethese summer months and for a $1 per ride, it's a heck-of-a deal. The merry-go-round is run by friendly volunteers and it's a time warp of the best kind.

Moore Memorial Park is a short walking distance from my parent's home in northern Ames. The park is…read morenamed for Fern and Bertha Moore who operated a dairy farm here and donated their 90 acres of land to the City of Ames. It is said that Bertha Moore would enjoy negotiating with developers who tried to buy her valuable land that was (and is) located next to the golf course. She would hear them out, bargain, and then decline. In her will, she was always clear that she wanted the future use of her land as a place where children could play. During our recent family trip back to Ames, my son enjoyed wandering off to this Park and I'm sure would thank Bertha Moore if he could. He admires the pond, walks the paths that loop around, sits in the grass playing his Nintendo DS, sits and talks with his Dad and Grandparents on a park bench, and climbs up the observation tower with his cousins. In his younger days, he would enjoy himself for hours at the play structure. As I walk the loop myself, I particular enjoy the old farm buildings (silo and a machine shed), the trees, the Big Bluestem Shelter, and the acres of prairie grasses and wildflowers. This place is not as big as Ada Hayden, but it is my neighbourhood park and I'm sure that I will continue to enjoy the handsome layout and its many relaxing features.