Ankeny, IA Public Conduct: Skateboarding Rules (2026)

Ankeny regulates skateboards through Chapter 82, Multi-Use Recreational Trails, which the City defines in § 82.01 as a way or place controlled by the City and designated on multi-use recreational trail maps approved by the Park Board, expressly not a street or highway. Section 82.02, added by Ordinance No. 2135, lists skateboards among the non-motorized devices permitted on trails alongside bicycles, inline skates and wheelchairs. Section 82.03, added by Ordinance No. 2154, then carves out the one place skateboards are not allowed: the portions of trails that utilize an existing road, street or highway.

The same section separately bars motorized vehicles except where a trail uses an existing road or is otherwise allowed under Chapter 76, bars equestrian use, and bars washing or repairing vehicles, advertising or peddling on the trail outside of a City lease or contract. Section 82.04 lets the Park Board limit trail hours and lets the Park Director close sections temporarily in an emergency, while § 82.05 requires every trail user to obey posted signs, including speed limits, hours of use, and stop and yield signs.

Section 82.06 sets the baseline speed standard for every trail user, skateboarders included: travel at a speed that is reasonable and prudent for the conditions and never in a manner that is a willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property. Enforcement of Chapter 82, which was adopted by Ordinance No. 1717, runs to the Ankeny Police Department and Park Board staff who post the required signage.