Location:  875 S 22nd Street

About/Amenities: Open play area, picnic tables, playground equipment, soccer field, and basketball court. 4 Acres

Historical Information: Ascension Park was the result of cooperation between Ascension Lutheran Church and the City of Marion in 1996 to provide a neighborhood park of approximately eight acres per a long-term lease agreement. In addition to the installation of playground equipment, in 2006 the City of Marion assisted Ascension Lutheran Church with the improvements made to the shared parking lot.

Location: 975 Boyson Road 

About/Amenities: 1 mile scenic trail, picnic tables  70 Acres

Historical Information: The park and road are named after the Boyson family, who originally owned most of the land.

Location: 29th Avenue and 35th Street 

About/Amenities: Basketball, baseball diamond, playground equipment, skate park, gazebo & grill, open space. 6.3 Acres

Historical Information: Butterfield Park was dedicated in August, 1999. The land is leased from the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection. The park is named after Joe Butterfield, who was the Marion Parks Director from 1975-1996.

Location: 1001 7th Avenue

About/Amenities: Pavilion, picnic tables, train caboose. 1.5 Acres

Historical Information: The survey of the original town was made in December 1839, when a public square was reserved, but it wasn't until 1926 that action was taken. It would be known as the City Park.  Today City Park is a focal point for community activity. The statue in the park, facing 7th Avenue, is called the Silent Sentinel and features an unidentified Civil War soldier. The statue is made of zinc, was forged in Connecticut and donated by the Iowa Woman's Relief Corps, Marion, Iowa, Robert Mitchell WRC No. 126 in 1914. The roof of the "depot" was the roof of the old Milwaukee Road railroad depot in Marion. It was moved to the park in 1989-1990. The roof, portico, and much of the brick work from the 100-year old building were removed to be used for the pavilion in City Park. 

Location: 290 W 8th Avenue 

About/Amenities: Small shelter, playground, Boyson Trail, basketball court, peewee ball diamond. 19 Acres 

Historical Information: The majority of Donnelly Park was purchased from MJ and Alice Donnelly in 1972 and included access from West 8th Avenue. The Marion Independent School District had obtained 4.7 acres from the Donnelly’s off Parkview Drive on the south side of the City’s property. The school initially thought about building a school on their site, but this hinged on the merging of the Linn-Mar and Marion School Districts. This merger did not happen. In November of 1981, the City entered into an agreement with the Marion School Board to lease the 4.7 acres for parkland.

Location: 1645 5th Avenue 

About/Amenities: Picnic tables and playground equipment.  0.3 Acres

Historical Information: This is the smallest park in Marion, situated on a city lot.  It was leased from the Marion Independent School District in 1981 for 99 years, at a cost of $1 per year.  The property was originally part of the old railroad tracks.  The park was dedicated on Nov. 12, 1981, and is named for Elza Mentzer.  The Mentzers were a prominent Marion family.  Benjamin Mentzer was the son of a building contractor and built a house on Eighth Ave. in the 1890's.  Elza graduated from Marion High School in 1875 and was the father of Gretchen Mentzer, a long-time Marion school teacher.

Location: 30th Street and Tama

About/Amenities: 1.5 mile walking trail among 110 acres of natural woodland.

Location: 3450 Hawthorne 

About/Amenities: Small walking trail, playground equipment, splash pad, gazebo, baseball field, and open play area. 6.5 Acres

Historical Information: In October 1998, the City of Marion and the Marion Water Board finalized an exchange agreement with Mr. and Mrs. Curt Gill for the dedication of approximately six acres of land for park and recreation purposes and a well and pumping station. In exchange for the transfer of park land, the City of Marion extended a sanitary sewer on Tenth Street.  The park was named to honor Curt Gill's grandfather, the original owner of  the land.

The Marion Parks Department was successful in its application to Iowa Department of Natural Resources Recreation Infrastructure Grant Program and received $38,347 for the park. With the addition of City of Marion matching funds, a gazebo, playground equipment, ball field, sign and walking trail became a reality in 2001.

Location: 775 Fairview Drive 

About/Amenities: Pavilion, grills, restrooms, basketball court, soccer mini-pitch, picnic tables, baseball diamond, playground equipment, sandbox area, fitness trail.  This park has an accessible play area for children, including a ramp for wheelchairs. 15 Acres

To activate the lights - push the red button on the panel located next to the center sidewalk. Lights are in operation from sunset until 10:15 p.m.

Historical Information: It was established in 1976, named for Harold Hanna (1912-1973), a long time Marion resident who served as a park board member for 30 years.  Hanna's daughter, Lois Foster, was also a park board member for 16 years. The land had been owned by the Marion Independent School District. On March 29, 1974, the City of Marion purchased the land from the Marion Independent School District for $25,112.91.

Location: 390 Central Avenue

About/Amenities: Baseball diamond, picnic tables, open play area, playground equipment, basketball court. 12 Acres  

Historical Information: Named after former land owners Dayton and Olive Lininger. It was purchased by the City of Marion in December 1970. 

Location: 4500 N 10th Street 

About/Amenities: Home to the Arts & Environment Center and the recreation staff offices, which also hosts daily senior activities. Hard surface trails including a sculpture trail, amphitheater, open space, fishing pond, ball diamonds with concessions, sports fields, restrooms, community gardens, demonstration orchard, greenhouse. 180 acres in total.

The Inclusive Playground, restroom, and open air shelter, located in the center of Lowe Park, has it's own address (4401 Irish Drive) and separate entrance. Access to hard surface trail at Irish Drive entrance.

Location: 3205 3rd Avenue 

About/Amenities: Site of Marion Girls Softball Program, concessions, playground, restrooms, picnic tables. 3.5 Acres

Historical Information: Built in 1993 and home to the Marion girl's softball leagues.  Named after Peg Pierce, a long-time Marion resident who started the softball program in 1984. The league played at various school and park locations until the new park was built.  The Parks Department used surplus funds from the swimming pool and federal grant for youth programs to do the grading and seeding of the complex. The league had many fundraisers to pay for fencing, backstops, bleachers, and concrete. "The league probably put $160,000 to $180,000 into the ball park," Peg said. The playground was added in 2004, when the league raised another $15,000.  Another $25,000 was raised for parking lots.

Location: 5133 29th Avenue 

About/Amenities: Playground, pavilion, basketball court.

Historical Information:  Built in 2023

Location: 1480 Grand Avenue 

About/Amenities: Site of Marion Boys Baseball Program, concessions, picnic tables, restrooms, small playground. 15 Acres

Location: 2200 31st Street

About/Amenities: Small pavilion, playground, basketball, picnic tables, and open space. 5 Acres

Location: 343 Marion Blvd 

About/Amenities: Home to the Parks and Recreation Administrative and Operations facility. Three pavilions, playgrounds, sandbox with diggers, two full-size basketball courts, ice rink, 18-hole disc golf, splash pad, horseshoe courts, trails, picnic tables, grills, restrooms, open play area, sledding hill, access to Boyson & Krumboltz Trail. 50 Acres

Historic Information:
On February 1, 1917, the people of Marion decided that the city should have a park to be used as a campground for overnight visitors. Three years later, this became the main function of Thomas Park, which was purchased for $4,500. School children took up collections to help with the purchase of 13 acres.

Richard Thomas was the original owner of the land. In 1840, he established the first sawmill in Linn County; he lived on this land until his death in 1892 at the age of 110. His daughter was one of the Park's main supporters.  When she was asked to name the park, she requested that it be named after her father. Later she gave a millstone from her father's mill to be embedded in the fieldstone columns at its entrance. Even today you can see the original columns still standing after so many years.

Today the adjoining Legion Park and Thomas Park includes 50 acres for enjoyment of the community. 

Location: 6303 Partners Avenue 

About/Amenities: features a glacial boulder, a pond, 20-stall parking lot, pavilion with grills, loop trail, fishing pier, prairie grasses and a trail connection to the Grant Wood Trail system.

Historical Information: Marion's newest park is located east of Highway 13 and south of Highway 151, adjacent to the 184-acre Marion Enterprise Center. In 2015, local resident and developer Waldo Morris donated 7.4 acres of land to be developed as a city park. A large rock on the property was determined to be a glacial, granite rock deposited on the site from west-central Minnesota during the last Ice Age. The pond was stocked in the spring of 2018 and catch and release fishing is permitted until the habitat has time to become established. The park is to provide unique learning and recreational opportunities for all ages.

Location: 990 2nd Street 

About/Amenities: Playground, restrooms, and ball diamond. 8 Acres

Historical Information: The land was originally the town landfill. In the early 1960s, the land became a park and was known as Storybook Park. The flower bed at the Second Street entrance is planted and maintained by members of the Friends of the Marion Parks.

Location: 1855 35th Street 

About/Amenities: Marion Municipal Swimming Pool, splash pad, pavilions, grills, small playground equipment, and restrooms. 10 Acres