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2009-0724-CA-JacksonPhoto: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0
C−Outdoors
Outdoors in Jackson

Jackson has 21 acres of parks, 4.2 for every 1,000 residents

82% of residents live within a half mile of a park.

Ahead of 21% of U.S. towns · #753 of 847 in California. What drives it

Conserved land
1%
15 acres · of 3.6 sq mi of land
Trails
0.0 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
21 ac
4.2 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
82%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,437 ft
Tunnel Hill

What kind of outdoors town is Jackson?

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

Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Jackson have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Jackson is ahead of 21% of U.S. towns, #753 of 847 in California. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.

C−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Jackson’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 21%
LessMore
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 11%
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Jackson. 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.

123
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.

Kennedy Tailing Wheels Park

Park
7 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Detert Park

Park
6 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Gold Ridge Park

Park
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it

15 conserved acres

1% of Jackson’s land. Who manages Jackson’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Town or city14 ac
Private owners1 ac
Local Park · 15 ac
The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Kennedy Tailing Wheels Park
Local Park
Town or city8Open
Detert Park
Local Park
Town or city7Open
Kennedy Meadows Park
Local Park
Private owners1Open
Things to do

3 places to go in Jackson

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

Scenic views in Jackson
Impound Dam Overlook
Directions
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
5Tennis
4Baseball
1Basketball
1Football

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

History along the way

9 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.

History →
Amador County Hospital BuildingBuilding · listed 1972
About it
Kennedy Tailing WheelsStructure · listed 1981
About it
Grace Blair DePue House and Indian MuseumBuilding · listed 1982
About it
Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox ChurchBuilding · listed 1986
About it
John A. Butterfield HouseBuilding · listed 1986
About it
Chichizola Family Store ComplexDistrict · listed 1992
About it
Jackson Downtown Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2000
About it
William J. Paugh HouseBuilding · listed 2007
About it
Kennedy Mine Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2009
About it
When to get out

May is the best month for walking in Jackson

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)9.810.711.813.114.214.814.613.612.411.110.09.5
High (°F)565963687787949388776455
Rain (in)5.55.34.62.81.70.30.00.00.21.62.85.3

July is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and the warmest (highs of 94 °F). 5.5 inches fall in January, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 94 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Jackson →

Questions about parks and trails in Jackson

How much of Jackson is conserved land?

1% 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.

Are dogs allowed on Jackson’s trails?

Kennedy Tailing Wheels Park and Detert Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Is there public land near Jackson?

13,257 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Jackson or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 21 of them inside the city line.

How much outdoors does Jackson have?

Ahead of 21% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #753 of 847 in California. 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 Jackson 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 →