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Population sign on Dolan RoadPhoto: Calbear22 at English Wikipedia · Public domain
AOutdoors
Outdoors in Elkhorn

38% of Elkhorn’s land is conserved: 1,156 acres

984 acres are parks and preserves, 591 per 1,000 residents. 8.0 miles of mapped trail cross Elkhorn, 1.7 per square mile of land. 32% of residents live within a half mile of a park.

Ahead of 91% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Conserved land
38%
1,156 acres · of 4.8 sq mi of land
Trails
8.0 mi
1.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
984 ac
591 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
32%
of residents within ½ mile

What kind of outdoors town is Elkhorn?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Land that stays wild38% of the land is conserved; a typical California town, 4%.Room to roam591 acres of park per 1,000 residents; the typical U.S. town has 13.A trail town1.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 90% of U.S. towns.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Elkhorn have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Elkhorn is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.

A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Elkhorn’s overall grade.
Conserved land38% of the land · typical CA town 4% · U.S. 4%A+Trails1.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (8 mi) · CA 0.9 · U.S. 0.4APark land591 acres of park per 1,000 residents (984 acres) · CA 5 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home32% of residents within a half mile of a park · CA 91% · U.S. 72%C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 91%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A+. 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
Who protects it

1,156 conserved acres

38% of Elkhorn’s land. Who manages Elkhorn’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

State fish & wildlife978 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits178 ac
State Conservation Area · 978 acPrivate Conservation · 178 ac
The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Elkhorn Slough Ecological Reserve
State Conservation Area
State fish & wildlife978Open
Elkhorn Slough / Long Valley - ESF
Private Conservation
Land trusts & nonprofits178Closed
Things to do

8 places to go in Elkhorn

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Scenic views in Elkhorn
Elkhorn Slough viewpoint
Directions
North Marsh Overlook
Directions
Parsons Slough Overlook
Directions
Wildlife Blind
Directions
Trails & water

5 named trails

Named trails
Unpaved · 3.7 mi
South Marsh Loop Trail1.7 mi
Five Fingers Loop Trail0.9 mi
Long Valley Loop Trail0.7 mi
Murphy Trail0.4 mi
Oak Trail0.2 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
4Basketball

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

When to get out

The best walking months in Elkhorn: April to August

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.910.811.913.114.114.714.413.612.411.210.19.6
High (°F)626364666769697173726661
Rain (in)4.13.93.11.40.50.10.00.00.10.91.93.9

July is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and September the warmest (highs of 73 °F). 4.1 inches fall in January, the wettest month. The climate in Elkhorn →

Next door

Elkhorn and its neighbors

Elkhorn has the second most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Prunedale34 miElkhorn8.0 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Elkhorn38%1.759132%A
Prunedale10%0.74539%B+

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Elkhorn

How much of Elkhorn is conserved land?

38% of its land, against a typical 4% for a California town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.

Is there public land near Elkhorn?

7,384 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Elkhorn or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 984 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Elkhorn have?

Ahead of 91% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Elkhorn neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →