Two Lakes Park
Park
26 acres1 mi of trail
Two Lakes Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, photographer not specified or unknown · Public domainAOutdoors
Outdoors in Seward
36% of Seward’s land is conserved: 3,192 acres
The biggest trail networks: Two Lakes Park (1 mi). 11 miles of mapped trail cross Seward, 0.8 per square mile of land. 83 acres are parks and preserves, 30 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 89% of U.S. towns · #4 of 41 in Alaska. What drives it
Conserved land
36%
3,192 acres · of 14.0 sq mi of land
Trails
11 mi
0.8 per sq mi of land
Park land
83 ac
30 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
76%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.6 mi
3.6 mi paths
Highest peak
3,022 ft
Race Point
Lakes & rivers
2
3 beaches · 12 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Seward?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Seward have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Seward is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns, #4 of 41 in Alaska. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Seward’s overall grade.
Conserved land36% of the land · typical AK town 15% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (11 mi) · AK 0.5 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land30 acres of park per 1,000 residents (83 acres) · AK 15 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home76% of residents within a half mile of a park · AK 36% · U.S. 72%B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 89%
LessMore
Alaska towns of 2,500+ (41)Ahead of 92%
Alaska towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 15%; the U.S., 4%), so Seward’s 36% is ahead of 65% of Alaska towns, while its trails per square mile lead 72% of them.
Water is 36% of Seward’s area (8 of 22 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 23%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. 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 Two Lakes Park, with 1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Waterfront Park
Managed by City of Seward
35 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
3,192 conserved acres
36% of Seward’s land. Water is left out: Seward has 14.0 square miles of land and 7.9 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Seward’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources3,192 ac
State Other or Unknown · 3,192 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 2 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Land Disposals - Municipal Purposes State Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 1,858 | Unknown |
| State Patented State Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 1,334 | Unknown |
Things to do
24 places to go in Seward
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Seward
3 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Playgrounds in Seward
2 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Boat launches in Seward
Northeast Launch Ramp
DirectionsSouth Launch Ramp
DirectionsPlus 10 boat launches without a name on the map.
Waterfalls in Seward
2 waterfalls without a name on the map.
Peaks in Seward
Race Point3,022 ft elevation
DirectionsCampgrounds in Seward
Forest Acres CampgroundFee · City of Seward
DirectionsSeward 708
DirectionsTent Area CampgroundFee · In Waterfront Park · City of Seward
DirectionsCommunity gardens in Seward
Seward Community Garden by the Bay
DirectionsTrails & water
3 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 5.6 mi
Mount Marathon Trail1.6 mi
Bear Mountain Trail1.6 mi
Two Lakes Trail0.8 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
3.6 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
3.6 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
3Baseball
1Basketball
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →10 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 5 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Diversion TunnelStructure · listed 1977
About itSwetman HouseBuilding · listed 1978
About itBallaine HouseBuilding · listed 1978
About itSt. Peter's Episcopal ChurchBuilding · listed 1979
About itGovernment Cable OfficeBuilding · listed 1980
About itVan Gilder HotelBuilding · listed 1980
About itSeward DepotBuilding · listed 1987
About itBrown & Hawkins StoreBuilding · listed 1988
About itJesse Lee Home for ChildrenBuilding · listed 1995
About itHoben ParkSite · listed 2006
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Seward: June to August
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) | 6.6 | 9.0 | 11.6 | 14.5 | 17.1 | 18.9 | 18.1 | 15.6 | 12.7 | 10.0 | 7.3 | 5.9 |
| High (°F) | 31 | 34 | 37 | 45 | 53 | 59 | 62 | 62 | 56 | 46 | 36 | 33 |
| Rain (in) | 6.5 | 6.4 | 3.9 | 4.3 | 3.5 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 5.4 | 9.9 | 8.7 | 7.6 | 8.2 |
June is the driest month (2.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 62 °F). 9.9 inches fall in September, the wettest month. The climate in Seward →
Next door
Seward and its neighbors
Seward has the second most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seward | 36% | 0.8 | 30 | 76% | A |
| Bear Creek | 56% | 0.6 | under 1 | under 1% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Seward
Where can I hike in Seward?
The longest trail networks: Two Lakes Park, 1 miles; Waterfront Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Seward is conserved land?
36% 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 Seward’s trails?
Two Lakes Park and Waterfront Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Seward?
3.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.6 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Seward?
91,080 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Seward or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 83 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Seward have?
Ahead of 89% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #4 of 41 in Alaska. 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 Seward 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 →