Chelsea Rec on 39
Park
25 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Rivers Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0DOutdoors
Outdoors in Chelsea
Few parks or trails are on the map in Chelsea
21% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 51 acres are parks and preserves, 3.1 per 1,000 residents. 2.9 miles of mapped trail cross Chelsea, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 12% of U.S. towns · #150 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
47 acres · of 32.7 sq mi of land
Trails
2.9 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
51 ac
3.1 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
21%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
3
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Chelsea have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Chelsea is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns, #150 of 187 in Alabama. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; trail miles come closest.
D
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Chelsea’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical AL town 1% · U.S. 4%C−Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · AL 0.1 · U.S. 0.4CPark land3.1 acres of park per 1,000 residents (51 acres) · AL 8 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home21% of residents within a half mile of a park · AL 36% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 12%
LessMore
Alabama towns of 2,500+ (187)Ahead of 20%
Few Alabama towns conserve much land (a typical one, 1%; the U.S., 4%), so Chelsea’s under 1% is ahead of 19% of Alabama towns, while its trails per square mile lead 42% of them.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Chelsea. 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 C−. 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Chelsea Youth League Fields
Park
9 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
47 conserved acres
under 1% of Chelsea’s land. Who manages Chelsea’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city39 ac
County5 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits3 ac
Local Park · 42 acUnknown Easement · 3 acLocal Recreation Area · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 3 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chelsea Recreational Park Local Park | Town or city | 31 | Open |
| Chelsea Baseball Park Local Park | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Forest Park and Recreational Area Local Park | County | 3 | Open |
| SportsFirst 1996 Fields Complex Local Recreation Area | County | 1 | Open |
Things to do
10 places to go in Chelsea
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Chelsea
Hargis Swimming Pool
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Chelsea
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Picnic areas in Chelsea
Cannon Pavillion
DirectionsFront Porch
DirectionsJudson Day Gazeebo
DirectionsLifeguard Gazeebo
DirectionsTilton Arbor
DirectionsCampgrounds in Chelsea
Hargis Christian Camp
DirectionsTrails & water
2 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 2.3 mi
Lake path0.5 mi
Dunnavant Valley Greenway0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
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
8Baseball
2Soccer
2Football
1Softball
1Beach volleyball
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Chelsea: 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.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 10.2 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 13.9 | 14.3 | 14.2 | 13.4 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.4 | 10.0 |
| High (°F) | 55 | 60 | 67 | 75 | 82 | 88 | 91 | 90 | 86 | 76 | 65 | 57 |
| Rain (in) | 5.3 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.0 | 4.2 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 5.2 |
October is the driest month (3.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 91 °F). 5.5 inches fall in March, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 91 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Chelsea →
Next door
Chelsea and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chelsea | under 1% | 0.1 | 3 | 21% | D |
| Pelham | 37% | 2.5 | 356 | 41% | A |
| Westover | under 1% | 0.3 | 2 | 6% | D |
| Columbiana | under 1% | 0.1 | 6 | 45% | C− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Chelsea
How much of Chelsea 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.
Are dogs allowed on Chelsea’s trails?
Chelsea Rec on 39 and Chelsea Youth League Fields don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Chelsea?
14,520 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Chelsea or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 51 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Chelsea have?
Ahead of 12% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #150 of 187 in Alabama. 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 Chelsea 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 →