Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Please attribute this image as the work of "DiscoverWithDima." · CC BY-SA 4.03,080 acres are parks and preserves, 188 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Gulf State Park (4 mi), Johnnie Sims Park (1.4 mi). 33% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 74% of U.S. towns · #8 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Gulf Shores is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns, #8 of 187 in Alabama. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
Few Alabama towns conserve much land (a typical one, 1%; the U.S., 4%), so Gulf Shores’ 23% is ahead of 98% of Alabama towns, while its trails per square mile lead 73% of them.
Water is 14% of Gulf Shores’ area (5 of 33 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 20%.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
The longest trail network is Gulf State Park, with 4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
23% of Gulf Shores’ land. Water is left out: Gulf Shores has 28.6 square miles of land and 4.8 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Gulf Shores’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gulf State Park State Park | State parks | 3,015 | Open |
| Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 2,248 | Restricted |
| Gulf Shores Sports Complex Local Park | Town or city | 82 | Open |
| Gulf Shores Park Local Park | Town or city | 30 | Open |
| Meyer Park Local Park | Town or city | 11 | Open |
| State-owned Submerged Lands Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 1 | Open |
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Plus 1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
1 swimming spot without a name on the map.
Plus 6 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Plus 23 boat launches without a name on the map.
1 scenic view without a name on the map.
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
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) | 10.4 | 11.1 | 11.9 | 12.9 | 13.7 | 14.1 | 13.9 | 13.2 | 12.3 | 11.4 | 10.6 | 10.2 |
| High (°F) | 61 | 64 | 70 | 76 | 83 | 88 | 90 | 90 | 87 | 80 | 70 | 64 |
| Rain (in) | 4.4 | 4.3 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 3.8 | 5.8 | 7.3 | 6.6 | 6.8 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 4.8 |
May is the driest month (3.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 7.3 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Gulf Shores →
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gulf Shores | 23% | 0.3 | 188 | 33% | B+ |
| Orange Beach | 8% | 0.8 | 98 | 45% | A− |
| Foley | 1% | 0.4 | 7 | 28% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
The longest trail networks: Gulf State Park, 4 miles; Johnnie Sims Park, 1.4 miles; Meyer Park, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
23% 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.
Gulf State Park and Johnnie Sims Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
43 miles of bike routes are on the map: 14 of painted or protected lanes and 29 of off-road paths.
7,945 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Gulf Shores or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 3,081 of them inside the city line.
Ahead of 74% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #8 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.
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Gulf Shores neighbors.
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 →