Talladega National Forest
Managed by United States Forest Service
10 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Rivers A. Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0DOutdoors
Outdoors in Sylacauga
Few parks or trails are on the map in Sylacauga
15 acres are parks and preserves, 1.2 per 1,000 residents. 25% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1.5 miles of mapped trail cross Sylacauga, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 10% of U.S. towns · #157 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
18 acres · of 20.3 sq mi of land
Trails
1.5 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
15 ac
1.2 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
25%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
745 ft
Herds Mountain
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Sylacauga have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Sylacauga is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns, #157 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 Sylacauga’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical AL town 1% · U.S. 4%C−Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · AL 0.1 · U.S. 0.4CPark land1.2 acres of park per 1,000 residents (15 acres) · AL 8 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home25% 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 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 Sylacauga’s under 1% is ahead of 15% of Alabama towns, while its trails per square mile lead 38% of them.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Sylacauga. 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 still be D. 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.
Noble Park
Managed by Sylacauga City
9 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
18 conserved acres
under 1% of Sylacauga’s land. Who manages Sylacauga’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service10 ac
Town or city8 ac
National Forest · 10 acLocal Park · 8 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Talladega National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 10 | Open |
| Nobel Park Local Park | Town or city | 8 | Open |
Things to do
5 places to go in Sylacauga
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Sylacauga
kids swimming pool
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Sylacauga
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Peaks in Sylacauga
Herds Mountain745 ft elevation
DirectionsMarble Hill502 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
2 named trails
Named trails
Sylaward Mtb Maintrunk Trail0.5 mi
Sylaward Mtb Ridge Loop0.1 mi
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
6Baseball
6Tennis
4Tracks
2Softball
1Beach volleyball
1Football
1Soccer
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). The map also marks 2 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Sylacauga: 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) | 10.2 | 11.0 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 13.9 | 14.3 | 14.1 | 13.4 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.4 | 10.0 |
| High (°F) | 55 | 60 | 68 | 76 | 83 | 88 | 91 | 90 | 86 | 76 | 65 | 58 |
| Rain (in) | 5.4 | 5.6 | 5.3 | 4.7 | 4.4 | 5.0 | 4.7 | 4.4 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 4.6 | 5.1 |
October is the driest month (3.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 91 °F). 5.6 inches fall in February, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 91 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Sylacauga →
Next door
Sylacauga and its neighbors
Sylacauga has the second most mapped trails of the 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sylacauga | under 1% | 0.1 | 1 | 25% | D |
| Childersburg | 1% | 0.9 | 10 | 63% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Sylacauga
Where can I hike in Sylacauga?
The longest trail networks: Noble Park, 0.2 miles; Central Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Sylacauga is conserved land?
under 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 Sylacauga’s trails?
Talladega National Forest and Noble Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Sylacauga?
50,330 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Sylacauga or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 25 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Sylacauga have?
Ahead of 10% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #157 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 Sylacauga 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 →