Happy third week of classes! Have you been celebrating by staring at your upcoming assignments and feeling a sense of impending doom? If you want to escape your dorm room, it’s easy to go outside and catch some sun or hang out under a tree on central campus. However, there are also some great options around Ames if you want to escape the hustle and bustle of campus altogether. Ames has beautiful parks and wild areas where students can take a break from their busy lives!

Parks Within Walking Distance from Campus

If you don’t have a car or only want a quick break from campus, these are some accessible options to explore.

• Pammel Woods

Pammel Woods is located right on campus, north of Town Engineering Building and near the campus cemetery. It’s named after Louis H. Pammel, a prominent Iowa State botanist. You can enter the woods’ trails at signs near the marching band practice field. If you decide to take a stroll there, listen for bird calls like the Eastern Wood-Pewee’s rising “pee-wee” or the White-breasted Nuthatch’s nasal laughing sounds. White tailed deer are also residents here.

• Emma McCarthy Lee Park

Located west of engineering row, Lee Park is accessible via surrounding neighborhoods. However, flooding this past summer damaged the bridge from Oakland Street, so try to access the park from Ross Road. The park neighbors Munn Woods, a forest with several trails, tall trees and a creek to jump over. Listen for barred owls and their shouting “who-cooks-for-you” call, and look for raccoon tracks in the creek beds!

• ISU Arboretum

The arboretum is located west of the intermodal facility near the Southwest Athletic Complex. You can jog or walk on the surrounding paved trails or stroll through the arboretum on the grass. Iowa State is labeled a Tree Campus USA – how many different kinds of trees can you pick out?

• Brookside Park

Brookside is located east of Lied Rec. Center on 6th Street. It has a ton of winding forested trails, some of which have a great view of Squaw Creek. There are also beautiful flowerbeds maintained by volunteer gardeners from Ames. If the campus courts are too busy, you can play volleyball, basketball and tennis at Brookside, or hold a cookout in one of their several shelters.

Parks Driving Distance from Campus

If you have a car and you want to explore Ames even further, here are a couple of gorgeous parks to check out.

• River Valley Park

River Valley Park is northeast of campus, off of 13th Street. It neighbors the Skunk River, which is one of the main rivers in Ames. Lots of wildlife enjoys the river: beavers and otters have been spotted at River Valley Park before. Look for signs of beaver activity by inspecting the trees for bite marks. According to some reviews on Google, in the winter there is an outdoor area to ice skate, so you can look forward to that when the cold weather arrives.

• Ada Hayden Heritage Park

Ada Hayden is located north of the North Grand Mall, off of Grand Avenue. The park has a large lake where you can kayak, fish or look for other wildlife like turtles and aquatic birds. The park has a perfect figure 8 trail around the lake for jogging or walking, and it’s surrounded by prairie landscape. If you’re around Ames in the summer, you might see goats at Ada Hayden—they’re “guest landscapers” that help eat up weeds on the prairie.

You don’t have to book a flight somewhere exotic to have an escape from campus—there is so much natural beauty right here in Ames! The next time you want a break, consider taking a shorter journey to a local park.