Helen Keller Park
Park
7 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Eric Shalov · CC BY-SA 3.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in West Athens
15% of West Athens’ land is conserved: 135 acres
10 acres are parks and preserves, 1.1 per 1,000 residents. 0.2 miles of mapped trail cross West Athens, 0.1 per square mile of land. 73% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 46% of U.S. towns · #567 of 847 in California. What drives it
Conserved land
15%
135 acres · of 1.3 sq mi of land
Trails
0.2 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
10 ac
1.1 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
73%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.1 mi
1.9 mi lanes
What kind of outdoors town is West Athens?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does West Athens have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, West Athens is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns, #567 of 847 in California. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of West Athens’ overall grade.
Conserved land15% of the land · typical CA town 4% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · CA 0.9 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land1.1 acres of park per 1,000 residents (10 acres) · CA 5 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home73% of residents within a half mile of a park · CA 91% · U.S. 72%B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 46%
LessMore
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 33%
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in West Athens. 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 C to B+. 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
The longest trail network is Helen Keller Park, with 0.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
135 conserved acres
15% of West Athens’ land. Who manages West Athens’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County132 ac
Town or city3 ac
Local Recreation Area · 128 acLocal Park · 7 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chester L Washington Golf Course Local Recreation Area | County | 125 | Restricted |
| Helen Keller Park Local Park | County | 7 | Open |
| Vermont Parkway Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 3 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in West Athens
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in West Athens
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Biking & sports
2.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.9 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
0.2 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
2Baseball
1Football
1Soccer
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in West Athens: 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.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 10.1 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 13.9 | 14.4 | 14.2 | 13.4 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.3 | 9.9 |
| High (°F) | 68 | 68 | 69 | 72 | 74 | 77 | 81 | 83 | 82 | 78 | 73 | 68 |
| Rain (in) | 3.0 | 3.4 | 2.0 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 2.3 |
August is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 3.4 inches fall in February, the wettest month. The climate in West Athens →
Next door
West Athens and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Athens | 15% | 0.1 | 1 | 73% | B− |
| Hawthorne | 1% | 0.5 | 1 | 99% | B− |
| Los Angeles | 15% | 1.5 | 9 | 83% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in West Athens
Where can I hike in West Athens?
The longest trail networks: Helen Keller Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of West Athens is conserved land?
15% 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 West Athens’ trails?
Helen Keller Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in West Athens?
2.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.9 of painted or protected lanes and 0.2 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near West Athens?
5,873 acres of parks and open public land lie inside West Athens or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 10 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does West Athens have?
Ahead of 46% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #567 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 West Athens 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 →