Shawmut Historic District · Photo: Rivers Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0Valley has 188 acres of parks, 18 for every 1,000 residents
0.8 miles of mapped trail cross Valley, 0.1 per square mile of land. 52% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 31% of U.S. towns · #72 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it
How much outdoors does Valley have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Valley is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns, #72 of 187 in Alabama. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
Few Alabama towns conserve much land (a typical one, 1%; the U.S., 4%), so Valley’s 1% is ahead of 42% of Alabama towns, while its trails per square mile lead 33% of them.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Pick a walk
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Valley Ball Park
Langdale Park
Shawmut Circle
All 5 parks & preserves
62 conserved acres
1% of Valley’s land. Who manages Valley’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valley Parks And Recreation Sportsplex Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 37 | Open |
| State-owned Submerged Lands Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 21 | Open |
| Tater Miller Field Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 3 | Open |
2 places to go in Valley
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
1 boat launch without a name on the map.
1 lakes & rivers
5.7 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
5 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
The best walking months in Valley: 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 | 13.8 | 14.3 | 14.1 | 13.4 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.4 | 10.0 |
| High (°F) | 56 | 61 | 68 | 75 | 82 | 88 | 91 | 89 | 85 | 76 | 66 | 58 |
| Rain (in) | 4.8 | 4.9 | 5.2 | 4.5 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 4.7 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 3.2 | 4.1 | 5.4 |
October is the driest month (3.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 91 °F). 5.4 inches fall in December, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 91 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Valley →
Valley and its neighbors
Valley has the 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valley | 1% | 0.1 | 18 | 52% | C |
| Lanett | 1% | under 0.1 | 5 | 75% | C− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Valley
How much of Valley 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 Valley’s trails?
Valley Parks and Recreation and Valley Ball Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Valley?
5.7 miles of bike routes are on the map: 5.7 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Valley?
7,681 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Valley or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 207 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Valley have?
Ahead of 31% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #72 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 Valley neighbors.
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 →