Providence Crossing Park
Park
6 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Dough4872 · CC BY-SA 4.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Clayton
10% of Clayton’s land is conserved: 130 acres
92% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 6 acres are parks and preserves, 1.5 per 1,000 residents. 0.4 miles of mapped trail cross Clayton, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 53% of U.S. towns · #30 of 37 in Delaware. What drives it
Conserved land
10%
130 acres · of 1.9 sq mi of land
Trails
0.4 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
6 ac
1.5 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
92%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Clayton?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Clayton have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Clayton is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns, #30 of 37 in Delaware. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Clayton’s overall grade.
Conserved land10% of the land · typical DE town 13% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · DE 0.4 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land1.5 acres of park per 1,000 residents (6 acres) · DE 10 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home92% of residents within a half mile of a park · DE 85% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 53%
LessMore
Delaware towns of 2,500+ (37)Ahead of 19%
Delaware towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 13%; the U.S., 4%), so Clayton’s 10% is ahead of 36% of Delaware towns, while its trails per square mile lead 28% of 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 Providence Crossing Park, with 0.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Clayton Community Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
130 conserved acres
10% of Clayton’s land. Who manages Clayton’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city94 ac
Other state land11 ac
Private owners4 ac
Not recorded25 ac
Private Conservation · 121 acAgricultural Easement · 7 acUnknown Easement · 4 acLocal Other or Unknown · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 8 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 13 of 14 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coldwater Private Conservation | Town or city | 51 | Unknown |
| Wheatleys Pond Private Conservation | Not recorded | 24 | Unknown |
| Providence Creek Private Conservation | Town or city | 19 | Unknown |
| Huntington Mills Private Conservation | Town or city | 13 | Unknown |
| Longwood Lane Private Conservation | Town or city | 9 | Unknown |
| Southern States Co-Op Private Conservation | Private owners | 4 | Unknown |
| Tiger Eyes Subdivision Private Conservation | Town or city | 1 | Unknown |
| Smyrna Avenue Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 1 | Unknown |
Things to do
2 places to go in Clayton
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Clayton
Providence Crossing Playground AreaIn Providence Crossing Park
DirectionsProvidence Crossing Playground Area 2In Providence Crossing Park
DirectionsTrails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for 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
2Tennis
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →4 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Clayton: April to June and 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) | 9.7 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 43 | 46 | 54 | 65 | 74 | 82 | 87 | 85 | 79 | 68 | 57 | 47 |
| Rain (in) | 3.0 | 2.7 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 3.8 | 3.1 | 3.8 |
February is the driest month (2.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 4.5 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Clayton →
Next door
Clayton and its neighbors
Clayton 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clayton | 10% | 0.2 | 2 | 92% | B− |
| Smyrna | 19% | 0.1 | 9 | 82% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Clayton
Where can I hike in Clayton?
The longest trail networks: Providence Crossing Park, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Clayton is conserved land?
10% of its land, against a typical 13% for a Delaware town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Clayton’s trails?
Providence Crossing Park and Clayton Community Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Clayton?
14,465 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Clayton or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 6 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Clayton have?
Ahead of 53% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #30 of 37 in Delaware. 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 Clayton 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 →