Hollis Henrichs Park
Park
11 acres0.2 mi of trail
Odiak Pond Boardwalk
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Forest Service Alaska Region, USDA · CC BY 2.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Cordova
More than half of Cordova’s land is conserved: 64%
64% of Cordova’s land is conserved, about 25,289 acres. 16 acres are parks and preserves, 6.7 per 1,000 residents. 47% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 62% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
64%
25,289 acres · of 61.4 sq mi of land
Trails
27 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
16 ac
6.7 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
47%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
2,585 ft
Mount Shiels
Lakes & rivers
13
1 beach · 6 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Cordova?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Cordova have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Cordova is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Cordova’s overall grade.
Conserved land64% of the land · typical AK town 15% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (27 mi) · AK 0.5 · U.S. 0.4BPark land6.7 acres of park per 1,000 residents (16 acres) · AK 15 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home47% of residents within a half mile of a park · AK 36% · U.S. 72%C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 62%
LessMore
Alaska towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 15%; the U.S., 4%), so Cordova’s 64% is ahead of 88% of Alaska towns, while its trails per square mile lead 49% of them.
Water is 18% of Cordova’s area (14 of 75 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 53%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Hollis Henrichs Park, with 0.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
25,289 conserved acres
64% of Cordova’s land. Water is left out: Cordova has 61.4 square miles of land and 13.8 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Cordova’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service22,955 ac
State natural resources5,757 ac
National Forest · 20,719 acState Conservation Area · 3,577 acConservation Easement · 2,236 acState Other or Unknown · 2,181 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2,236 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 3 of 7 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chugach National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 20,719 | Open |
| Copper River Delta Critical Habitat Area State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 3,577 | Restricted |
| State Patented State Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 1,964 | Unknown |
| State Land Disposals - Other Than Municipal State Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 194 | Unknown |
| State Land Disposals - Municipal Entitlements, Mun State Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 22 | Unknown |
Things to do
31 places to go in Cordova
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Cordova
1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in Cordova
101 South First Street
Directions600 ADAMS AVENUE PLAYGROUND
DirectionsPlus 2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Waterfalls in Cordova
1 waterfall without a name on the map.
Peaks in Cordova
Mount Shiels2,585 ft elevation
DirectionsMount Eyak2,431 ft elevation
DirectionsMount Eccles2,356 ft elevation
DirectionsTripod Hill1,257 ft elevation
DirectionsPlus 12 peaks without a name on the map.
Picnic areas in Cordova
Cabin Lake Recreation Site
DirectionsCampgrounds in Cordova
Cabin Lake Campground
DirectionsCommunity gardens in Cordova
1 community garden without a name on the map.
Trails & water
12 named trails and 13 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 2.5 miUnpaved · 6.7 mi
Alice Smith Intertie Trail2.9 mi
Sand Trail2.5 mi
Power Creek Trail1.8 mi
Eyak River Trail1.8 mi
Ibeck Slough Trail0.7 mi
Meals Reservoir Trail0.6 mi
Eccles Lagoon Trail0.4 mi
Breakwater Trail0.4 mi
Lower Sunnyside0.2 mi
Mambo0.2 mi
2 more trails
Odiak Pond Boardwalk
0.2 miHeney Ridge Trail
0.1 miBiking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
2Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →4 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 2 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Cordova: June and July
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 6.5 | 9.0 | 11.6 | 14.5 | 17.2 | 19.0 | 18.2 | 15.7 | 12.7 | 9.9 | 7.2 | 5.7 |
| High (°F) | 34 | 37 | 39 | 47 | 54 | 59 | 62 | 62 | 56 | 48 | 38 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 6.2 | 6.0 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 5.4 | 4.6 | 5.7 | 9.9 | 13.2 | 10.9 | 7.2 | 8.0 |
April is the driest month (4.5 in) and August the warmest (highs of 62 °F). 13.2 inches fall in September, the wettest month. The climate in Cordova →
Questions about parks and trails in Cordova
Where can I hike in Cordova?
The longest trail networks: Hollis Henrichs Park, 0.2 miles; Nirvana Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Cordova is conserved land?
64% of its land, against a typical 15% for an Alaska town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Cordova’s trails?
Hollis Henrichs Park and Nirvana Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Cordova?
4,199 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Cordova or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 499 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Cordova have?
Ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Cordova neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →