Alum Hollow Land Trust
Nature preserve
329 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
DOutdoors
Outdoors in Owens Cross Roads
Few parks or trails are on the map in Owens Cross Roads
1.3 miles of mapped trail cross Owens Cross Roads, 0.2 per square mile of land. 1% of Owens Cross Roads’ land is conserved, about 66 acres.
Ahead of 10% of U.S. towns · #158 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
66 acres · of 7.9 sq mi of land
Trails
1.3 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Near a park
under 1%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,175 ft
Potato Hill
Lakes & rivers
1
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Owens Cross Roads have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Owens Cross Roads is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns, #158 of 187 in Alabama. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; trail miles come closest.
D
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Owens Cross Roads’ overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical AL town 1% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 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 10%
LessMore
Alabama towns of 2,500+ (187)Ahead of 16%
Few Alabama towns conserve much land (a typical one, 1%; the U.S., 4%), so Owens Cross Roads’ 1% is ahead of 61% of Alabama towns, while its trails per square mile lead 60% of them.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Owens Cross Roads. 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
66 conserved acres
1% of Owens Cross Roads’ land. Who manages Owens Cross Roads’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources39 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)27 ac
Resource Management Area · 39 acConservation Easement · 27 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 27 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| State-owned Submerged Lands Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 39 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Owens Cross Roads
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Owens Cross Roads
Potato Hill1,175 ft elevation · In Alum Hollow Land Trust
DirectionsTrails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
When to get out
The best walking months in Owens Cross Roads: 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) | 51 | 56 | 64 | 73 | 81 | 88 | 90 | 90 | 85 | 74 | 63 | 54 |
| Rain (in) | 5.3 | 5.3 | 5.5 | 5.2 | 4.4 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 5.9 |
October is the driest month (3.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 5.9 inches fall in December, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Owens Cross Roads →
Next door
Owens Cross Roads and its neighbors
Owens Cross Roads has the second most mapped trails of the 3 towns around it. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owens Cross Roads | 1% | 0.2 | under 1 | under 1% | D |
| Huntsville | 6% | 0.8 | 41 | 70% | A− |
| New Hope | 1% | 0.1 | 13 | 29% | C− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Owens Cross Roads
How much of Owens Cross Roads is conserved land?
1% 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 Owens Cross Roads’ trails?
Alum Hollow Land Trust doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Owens Cross Roads?
11,183 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Owens Cross Roads or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 41 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Owens Cross Roads have?
Ahead of 10% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #158 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 Owens Cross Roads 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 →