GET OUTSIDE!
Trails for Hiking and Biking
Greater Des Moines has steadily built a series of biking and hiking trails around the metro area. Today there are well over 100 miles of trails in Greater Des Moines, including a scenic 23.7-mile trail along the Des Moines River and Saylorville Lake. For great information on Iowa trails, including the Polk/Dallas/Warren tri-county area, try the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation website.
Golf
Maybe it has something to do with the connection to the land, or maybe we just like to hit the long ball, but Iowa has more golf courses
per-capita than any other state. In Greater Des Moines, you'll find golf courses for every skill level, including the Arnold Palmer Signature Course,
the Tournament Club of Iowa. When it gets cold out, we just take our sticks to the many indoor driving ranges.
Search our member directory for our member golf courses and businesses.
Boating, Water Sports
Saylorville Lake offers a 6,000-acre boating, fishing and water sports playground on the northwest edge of Greater Des Moines.
Hunting and Fishing
Our abundance of rural habitat and strong history of natural resource conservation have created some of the best hunting and fishing in the world. Iowans buy nearly 500,000 state hunting and fishing licenses annually. Visitors purchase another 250,000 permits.
Pheasant hunting is the most popular, but sportsmen and women also hunt deer, ducks, turkey, grouse, geese, partridge and quail in Iowa. The state operates 340 public hunting areas (270,500 acres total) and 35 waterfowl refuges (42,000 acres). Thousands of farmers also open up their property to responsible hunting.
Iowa offers fishing enthusiasts 148 fish species including muskellunge, northern pike, walleye and several varieties of catfish and bass.
Parks
The city of Des Moines alone has more than 70 parks, with dozens more offered in the surrounding suburbs and counties. The city of Des Moines also owns 20 percent of the property within the city limits, maintaining much of it for public use. Greater Des Moines parks offer a range of amenities, including outdoor playground equipment, tennis and basketball courts, hiking and biking trails and camping and picnicking areas.
Horsing Around
Saddle up for some of the best horse-related recreation around. In Greater Des Moines you'll enjoy horse racing and showing, riding lessons, a variety of boarding options, and some of Iowa's most beautiful lakeshore trail rides. |
