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2022-10-13 Ashland, Alabama - Clay County CourthousePhoto: Rivers Langley · CC BY-SA 4.0
D−Outdoors
Outdoors in Ashland

Few parks or trails are on the map in Ashland

0.5 miles of mapped trail cross Ashland, 0.1 per square mile of land.

Ahead of 4% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Conserved land
under 1%
0 acres · of 7.3 sq mi of land
Trails
0.5 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Near a park
under 1%
of residents within ½ mile
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Ashland have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Ashland is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; trail miles come closest.

D−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Ashland’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 4%
LessMore

Few Alabama towns conserve much land (a typical one, 1%; the U.S., 4%), so Ashland’s under 1% is ahead of 6% of Alabama towns, while its trails per square mile lead 37% of them.

NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Ashland. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to D. 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
Things to do

1 places to go in Ashland

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Playgrounds in Ashland

1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.

Biking & 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
5Tennis
4Baseball
2Basketball
2Softball

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

2 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).

History →
Hugo Black HouseBuilding · listed 1973
About it
Clay County CourthouseBuilding · listed 1976
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in Ashland: April and May

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)10.210.911.913.013.914.314.113.412.311.310.410.0
High (°F)545966748186898884746456
Rain (in)5.65.65.74.94.45.05.04.23.63.54.65.7

October is the driest month (3.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 89 °F). 5.7 inches fall in March, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 89 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Ashland →

Questions about parks and trails in Ashland

How much of Ashland is conserved land?

under 1% of its land, against a typical 1% for an Alabama town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.

Is there public land near Ashland?

23,585 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Ashland or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), almost none of it inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Ashland have?

Ahead of 4% 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 Ashland neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →