Park and Recreation

Quick Links

Signup Online for Swimming Lessons Now!
We are pleased to announce that this year's sign up for swimming lessons will be online! Just as in previous years, class sizes are restricted. In order to get your preferred session, sign up now using the link below.
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Register Here
Get Ready to Get Dirty!
Hosted by the Iowa Games and Des Moines Parks and Recreation, the Mud Run is back at James Cownie Soccer Complex June 15. This event has a little something for everyone ages 5 and up from the Little Muddy Buddy Trot to the 1 and 3 Mile Fun runs.
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Race Info
Bald Eagles in Des Moines
Check out this informative video about the the Bald Eagles that visit Gray's Lake Park and downtown Des Moines. Host Pat Schlarbaum explains nesting, coloring, activity and prime viewing locations around the city.
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View Video
Mark Your Calendars
It's going to be another great Bike Month in Des Moines! The DM Bike collective has lots of events planned. Click the link below for all the details.
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More Info
Have More Fun for Less Money
Greater Des Moines Recreational Activity Scholarship Program(GRASP) is the program formerly known as “Experience Greater Des Moines.” The GRASP card is your ticket to reduced costs for Parks programs, as well as other community activities and programs. Income guidelines apply.
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Get Your GRASP Card
Report to the Community 2012
Des Moines Parks and Recreation is pleased to provide residents with “Report to the Community 2012.” This report provides a high level overview of many of the department’s significant accomplishments over the past year.
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View Report

Gray's Lake Park

With its many opportunities for walking, biking, and other activities, Gray’s Lake Park is the “Place to Meet” in the Des Moines Metro area. The centerpiece of the park’s renewal plan is the two-mile trail encircling the lake. This trail is lit and equipped with emergency phones, providing a beautiful, clean, and safe outdoor experience.

The 167-acre Gray's lake Park is located in the heart of the City of Des Moines, at the site of a former gravel and sand excavation operation. The park is located on the southwestern edge of downtown Des Moines, with entrances located on the east side of the major north/south arterial corridor of the City, at 2101 Fleur Drive. Water for the Park's 100-acre namesake lake is supplied by the adjacent Raccoon River back-up waters and storm water runoff from the City's southwest side.

Map of Gray's Lake Download Brochure History of Gray's Lake Activities On and Near Gray's Lake

Gray’s Lake Park Bicycle Rental Program Gray's Lake Trail Distance map

Fleur Drive connects the City's south side and traffic traveling to and from the Des Moines International Airport with downtown Des Moines and Interstate 235, thus positioning Gray's Lake as a main focal point along the "gateway" to downtown.

The Park, with its 1.9 mile Kruidenier Trail looping the lake, also serves as the hub of the Central Iowa Trails network through the Meredith Trail connection to downtown and all trails to the north and east in and around the City and the Bill Riley Trail, which connects with the park from the western suburbs and joins with trails to the City's south, including the Great Western Trail.

Do More than the Loop at Gray's Lake

This summer and fall venture off of the Kruidenier Trail at Gray’s Lake Park and try out some of the wonderful activities and lessons that the Park and Recreation staff has lined up. Back by popular demand are the March-May guided bird watching sessions at 11:00 a.m. every Wednesday and the 9:00 a.m. Saturday Yoga in the Park sessions on the north shore June through September. Kite flying has been added every fourth Tuesday from 5-7:00 p.m. now through October and, canoe and sailing lessons will get you into the lake weekly throughout May, June, July and August with expanded frequency and age brackets. If you’d rather float than boat, you’ll want to participate in the Moon Float from 9-11:00 p.m. the fourth Saturday of those months.

Also scattered throughout the months are a nature scavenger hunt, native plant sale, rowing and sailing clubs’ open houses, fishing clinic, flower pounding and sand sculpture activities, leaf boat building, insect identification, butterfly tagging, fairy house building, and landscaping how-to and fish printing classes. You’ll also want to put May 22 on your calendar as the Parks Department and Bass Pro Shops sponsor the first – and free – Gray’s Lake Carp Festival for youth and adults, with registration at 8:00 a.m. and activities from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. that include tournament fishing as well as lessons and carp lake ecology. Prizes will be awarded and you’ll get to nibble on some fish . . . and it won’t be carp. Check out the details of these and other activities at Gray's Lake Park by clicking on the links on the bottom of this page.

Gray's Lake Plaque Donations

Along the railing of the of the pedestrian bridge, individual bridge plaque sponsors are recognized with a plaque bearing their name, company name, friends’, or loved ones’ names. A minimum $100 donation entitles you to a plaque. Each plaque is a brushed-aluminum rectangle measuring 4 x 2 1/3 inches. Sponsors may include up to two lines of text with 17 characters each, including spaces, for a total of 34 characters per plaque. An additional line at the top of a plaque, reading “In Memory of,” may be added upon request at no charge. Visit the Gray's Lake Park Pedestrian Bridge Plaque page to learn more about bridge plaque sponsorship and how to obtain a Bridge Plaque Form.