Airport Complex
Managed by City of Muscle Shoals Parks and Recreation Department
18 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Florence, Alabama Music Enterprises (FAME) Recording Studios · Photo: Carol M. Highsmith · Public domainC+Outdoors
Outdoors in Muscle Shoals
6% of Muscle Shoals’ land is conserved: 658 acres
The biggest trail networks: Airport Complex (0.5 mi). 24% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 90 acres are parks and preserves, 5.3 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 40% of U.S. towns · #50 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
658 acres · of 16.9 sq mi of land
Trails
6.9 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
90 ac
5.3 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
24%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.3 mi
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Muscle Shoals have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Muscle Shoals is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns, #50 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 Muscle Shoals’ overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical AL town 1% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (7 mi) · AL 0.1 · U.S. 0.4BPark land5.3 acres of park per 1,000 residents (90 acres) · AL 8 · U.S. 13CParks close to home24% 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 40%
LessMore
Alabama towns of 2,500+ (187)Ahead of 74%
Few Alabama towns conserve much land (a typical one, 1%; the U.S., 4%), so Muscle Shoals’ 6% is ahead of 90% of Alabama towns, while its trails per square mile lead 81% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. 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 Airport Complex, with 0.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Sportsplex
Managed by Muscle Shoals Parks and Recreation Department
28 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
658 conserved acres
6% of Muscle Shoals’ land. Who manages Muscle Shoals’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Tennessee Valley Authority573 ac
Town or city85 ac
Federal Other or Unknown · 573 acLocal Recreation Area · 48 acLocal Park · 37 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 5 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pickwick Reservoir Retained Land Federal Other or Unknown | Tennessee Valley Authority | 569 | Unknown |
| Gattman Park Local Park | Town or city | 37 | Open |
| Muscle Shoals Sportsplex Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 28 | Open |
| Airport Complex Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 20 | Open |
| Wilson Reservoir Retained Land Federal Other or Unknown | Tennessee Valley Authority | 4 | Unknown |
Things to do
8 places to go in Muscle Shoals
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Muscle Shoals
Cypress Lakes Pool
DirectionsGattman Park Public PoolIn John W Gattman Park
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Muscle Shoals
6 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Biking & sports
0.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.3 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
18Baseball
18Golf
12Tennis
3Tracks
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).
Florence, Alabama Music Enterprises (FAME) Recording StudiosBuilding · listed 2016
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Muscle Shoals: 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 | 14.0 | 14.5 | 14.3 | 13.4 | 12.3 | 11.2 | 10.3 | 9.8 |
| High (°F) | 52 | 56 | 65 | 74 | 81 | 88 | 91 | 90 | 85 | 75 | 63 | 54 |
| Rain (in) | 5.0 | 5.1 | 5.3 | 5.1 | 4.6 | 4.3 | 4.9 | 4.5 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 5.8 |
September is the driest month (3.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 91 °F). 5.8 inches fall in December, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 91 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Muscle Shoals →
Next door
Muscle Shoals and its neighbors
Muscle Shoals has the most mapped trails of the 3 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Muscle Shoals
Where can I hike in Muscle Shoals?
The longest trail networks: Airport Complex, 0.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Muscle Shoals is conserved land?
6% 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 Muscle Shoals’ trails?
Airport Complex and John W Gattman Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Muscle Shoals?
0.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.3 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Muscle Shoals?
17,425 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Muscle Shoals or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 91 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Muscle Shoals have?
Ahead of 40% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #50 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 Muscle Shoals 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 →