Grady and Margie Long Complex
Park
46 acres1.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Chris Pruitt · CC BY-SA 3.0COutdoors
Outdoors in Hartselle
Hartselle has 138 acres of parks, 8.7 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Grady and Margie Long Complex (1.4 mi), Sparkman Park (1 mi). 2.7 miles of mapped trail cross Hartselle, 0.2 per square mile of land. 40% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 31% of U.S. towns · #75 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
209 acres · of 16.7 sq mi of land
Trails
2.7 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
138 ac
8.7 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
40%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
659 ft
Snow Hill
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Hartselle have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Hartselle is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns, #75 of 187 in Alabama. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; park acres per resident come closest.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Hartselle’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical AL town 1% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · AL 0.1 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land8.7 acres of park per 1,000 residents (138 acres) · AL 8 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home40% 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 31%
LessMore
Alabama towns of 2,500+ (187)Ahead of 60%
Few Alabama towns conserve much land (a typical one, 1%; the U.S., 4%), so Hartselle’s 2% is ahead of 73% of Alabama towns, while its trails per square mile lead 60% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C 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
The longest trail network is Grady and Margie Long Complex, with 1.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
209 conserved acres
2% of Hartselle’s land. Who manages Hartselle’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city130 ac
Tennessee Valley Authority75 ac
County5 ac
Federal Other or Unknown · 75 acLocal Park · 73 acLocal Recreation Area · 62 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 9 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wheeler Reservoir Retained Land Federal Other or Unknown | Tennessee Valley Authority | 75 | Unknown |
| Sparkman Park Local Park | Town or city | 41 | Open |
| Sparkman Fields Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 41 | Open |
| Sparkman Soccer Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 21 | Open |
| Railroad Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Sparkman Civic Local Park | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Purple Heart Local Park | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Mountainview Local Park | County | 5 | Open |
| Earth Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
Things to do
10 places to go in Hartselle
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Hartselle
Hartselle Pop Up Park
DirectionsSNAP Playground & Splash PadIn Grady and Margie Long Complex
DirectionsSwingsIn Sparkman Park
DirectionsPlus 5 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Hartselle
Hartselle Dog Park
DirectionsPeaks in Hartselle
Snow Hill659 ft elevation
DirectionsBiking & 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
15Baseball
14Tennis
8Soccer
1Basketball
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Hartselle Downtown Commercial Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1999
About itWhen to get out
May is the best month for walking in Hartselle
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 | 11.2 | 10.3 | 9.9 |
| High (°F) | 51 | 56 | 64 | 73 | 80 | 87 | 90 | 90 | 85 | 74 | 63 | 54 |
| Rain (in) | 5.2 | 5.2 | 5.3 | 5.4 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 4.4 | 5.6 |
October is the driest month (3.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 5.6 inches fall in December, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Hartselle →
Next door
Hartselle and its neighbors
Hartselle has the second most mapped trails of the 3 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Hartselle
Where can I hike in Hartselle?
The longest trail networks: Grady and Margie Long Complex, 1.4 miles; Sparkman Park, 1 miles; E.A.R.T.H. Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Hartselle is conserved land?
2% 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 Hartselle’s trails?
Grady and Margie Long Complex and Sparkman Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Hartselle?
4,922 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Hartselle or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 138 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Hartselle have?
Ahead of 31% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #75 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 Hartselle 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 →