50% of Guntersville’s land is conserved: 8,148 acres
5,601 acres are parks and preserves, 628 per 1,000 residents. 31 miles of mapped trail cross Guntersville, 1.2 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Lake Guntersville State Park (30.4 mi).
Ahead of 89% of U.S. towns · #4 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it
Conserved land
50%
8,148 acres · of 25.6 sq mi of land
Trails
31 mi
1.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
5,601 ac
628 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
27%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.4 mi
1.4 mi paths
Highest peak
1,148 ft
Moores Hill
What kind of outdoors town is Guntersville?
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, Guntersville is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns, #4 of 187 in Alabama. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Guntersville’s overall grade.
Few Alabama towns conserve much land (a typical one, 1%; the U.S., 4%), so Guntersville’s 50% is ahead of 100% of Alabama towns, while its trails per square mile lead 97% of them.
Water is 40% of Guntersville’s area (17 of 43 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 30%.
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.
50% of Guntersville’s land. Water is left out: Guntersville has 25.6 square miles of land and 17.1 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Guntersville’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State parks5,675 ac
Tennessee Valley Authority2,031 ac
State natural resources734 ac
Town or city29 ac
County29 ac
State Park · 5,730 acFederal Other or Unknown · 2,031 acResource Management Area · 678 acLocal Park · 57 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 8 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)
Managed by
Acres
Public access
Lake Guntersville State Park
State Park
State parks
5,730
Open
Guntersville Reservoir Retained Land
Federal Other or Unknown
Tennessee Valley Authority
2,031
Unknown
State-owned Submerged Lands
Resource Management Area
State natural resources
678
Open
Marshall County Park
Local Park
County
29
Open
Ogletree Park
Local Park
Town or city
14
Open
Tom Jackson Park
Local Park
Town or city
11
Open
Unknown Park
Local Park
Town or city
4
Open
Things to do
26 places to go in Guntersville
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Guntersville
2 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
The best walking months in Guntersville: 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)
10.1
10.9
11.9
13.0
13.9
14.4
14.2
13.4
12.3
11.3
10.3
9.9
High (°F)
51
56
64
73
80
87
89
89
84
74
63
54
Rain (in)
5.2
5.1
5.5
5.1
4.2
4.6
4.3
4.1
3.9
3.5
4.4
5.6
October is the driest month (3.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 89 °F). 5.6 inches fall in December, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 89 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Guntersville →
Questions about parks and trails in Guntersville
Where can I hike in Guntersville?
The longest trail networks: Lake Guntersville State Park, 30.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Guntersville is conserved land?
50% 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 Guntersville’s trails?
Lake Guntersville State Park and Sunset Beach And Trail don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Guntersville?
1.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.4 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Guntersville?
13,223 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Guntersville or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 6,282 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Guntersville have?
Ahead of 89% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #4 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 Guntersville neighbors.
Photo: Smalltownalabama · CC BY-SA 3.0