Talladega National Forest
Managed by United States Forest Service
504 acres0.4 mi of trail
Heflin Spur
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Cleburne County Courthouse · Photo: Wruple · CC BY-SA 3.0C−Outdoors
Outdoors in Heflin
5% of Heflin’s land is conserved: 541 acres
2.8 miles of mapped trail cross Heflin, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 16% of U.S. towns · #133 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
541 acres · of 16.2 sq mi of land
Trails
2.8 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Near a park
under 1%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Heflin?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Heflin have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Heflin is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns, #133 of 187 in Alabama. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Heflin’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical AL town 1% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · AL 0.1 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land0.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (0 acres) · AL 8 · U.S. 13DParks close to home0% of residents within a half mile of a park · AL 36% · U.S. 72%D−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 16%
LessMore
Alabama towns of 2,500+ (187)Ahead of 29%
Few Alabama towns conserve much land (a typical one, 1%; the U.S., 4%), so Heflin’s 5% is ahead of 87% of Alabama towns, while its trails per square mile lead 61% of them.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Heflin. 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
The longest trail network is Talladega National Forest, with 0.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
541 conserved acres
5% of Heflin’s land. Who manages Heflin’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service504 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits37 ac
National Forest · 504 acUnknown Easement · 37 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 37 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Talladega National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 504 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Heflin
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Heflin
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Heflin
1 dog park without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Heflin Spur0.7 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
3Baseball
3Tennis
1Tracks
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Heflin: 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 | 10.4 | 9.9 |
| High (°F) | 54 | 58 | 66 | 74 | 80 | 86 | 89 | 88 | 84 | 74 | 64 | 56 |
| Rain (in) | 5.5 | 5.3 | 5.5 | 4.7 | 4.2 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 4.2 | 3.6 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 5.3 |
October is the driest month (3.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 89 °F). 5.5 inches fall in March, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 89 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Heflin →
Questions about parks and trails in Heflin
Where can I hike in Heflin?
The longest trail networks: Talladega National Forest, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Heflin is conserved land?
5% 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 Heflin’s trails?
Talladega National Forest doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Heflin?
68,358 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Heflin or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 504 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Heflin have?
Ahead of 16% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #133 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 Heflin 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 →