J. C. Handly Sports Complex
Managed by Hillsborough County Parks & Recreation Department
43 acres0.4 mi of trail
Vita Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: FightingRaven531 · Public domainC−Outdoors
Outdoors in Brandon
Brandon has 357 acres of parks, 3.0 for every 1,000 residents
2.6 miles of mapped trail cross Brandon, 0.1 per square mile of land. 1% of Brandon’s land is conserved, about 254 acres. 65% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 24% of U.S. towns · #519 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
254 acres · of 33.1 sq mi of land
Trails
2.6 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
357 ac
3.0 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
65%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
45 mi
43 mi lanes · 1.8 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
13
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Brandon have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Brandon is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns, #519 of 638 in Florida. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
C−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Brandon’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical FL town 3% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · FL 0.4 · U.S. 0.4CPark land3.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (357 acres) · FL 6 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home65% of residents within a half mile of a park · FL 70% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 24%
LessMore
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 19%
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Brandon ranks #399 on Outdoors.
Water is 5% of Brandon’s area (2 of 35 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 1%.
Park acres per resident are where Brandon trails most U.S. towns: 3.0 per 1,000 against 12.6 typical, since 119,767 people share 357 acres.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Brandon. 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 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.
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 J. C. Handly Sports Complex, with 0.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Lakewood Park
Managed by Hillsborough County Parks
8 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Davis Park
Managed by Hillsborough County
66 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 23 parks & preserves
J. C. Handly Sports Complex43 acres · 0.4 mi of trail · Hillsborough County Parks & Recreation Department
DirectionsLakeview Park9 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
DirectionsLakewood Park8 acres · 0.3 mi of trail · Hillsborough County Parks
DirectionsHeather Lakes Park14 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Davis Park66 acres · Hillsborough County
Brandon Park21 acres · Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation Department
Brandon High Nature Preserve19 acres
Providence West Park19 acres
Clayton Park17 acres · Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation Department
DirectionsNorth Brandon Sports Complex16 acres · Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation Department
Brandon Parkway Trail16 acres · Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority
DirectionsRodney Colson Park14 acres · Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation Department
DirectionsSaladino Park13 acres · Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation Department
Limona Park11 acres
Providence Skate Park7 acres
DirectionsPaul Sanders Park5 acres · Hillsborough County Parks & Recreation Department
Sterling Ranch Park4 acres
DirectionsRotary’s All Persons Playground3 acres
DirectionsHunters Lake Community Park2 acres · Hunters Lake Community
Providence Lakes Park2 acres
Lake Shore Ranch Park1 acres
Baylife Park1 acres · Baylife Church
Front Street Park1 acres
Who protects it
254 conserved acres
1% of Brandon’s land. Water is left out: Brandon has 33.1 square miles of land and 1.9 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Brandon’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County254 ac
Local Park · 254 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Davis Park Local Park | County | 45 | Open |
| Jc Handly Sports Complex Local Park | County | 42 | Open |
| Brandon Recreation Center Local Park | County | 22 | Open |
| Lakeview Village Park Local Park | County | 21 | Open |
| Providence West Recreation Center Local Park | County | 19 | Open |
| Heather Lakes Park Local Park | County | 18 | Open |
| Clayton Park Local Park | County | 17 | Open |
| Rodney Colson Park Local Park | County | 17 | Open |
| North Brandon Sports Complex Local Park | County | 16 | Open |
| Saladino Park Local Park | County | 12 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
45 places to go in Brandon
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Brandon
Hunters Lake Community Swimming PoolIn Hunters Lake Community Park
DirectionsPool at Villa Serana
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Brandon
B.A.M. International Playground
DirectionsHunters Lake Community PlaygroundIn Hunters Lake Community Park
DirectionsProvidence West Park PlaygroundIn Providence West Park
DirectionsSterling Ranch Park PlaygroundIn Sterling Ranch Park
DirectionsThe Palms at Palasades Playground
DirectionsPlus 23 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Brandon
Lakewood Ridge Community Dog Park
DirectionsSaladino Dog ParkIn Saladino Park
DirectionsThe Palms at Palasades Dog Park
DirectionsPlus 12 dog parks without a name on the map.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 13 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 0.9 mi
Vita Trail0.8 mi
Biking & sports
45 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
43 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
1.8 mi
off-road bike paths
0.7 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
47Tennis
29Basketball
17Baseball
11Soccer
3Football
2Beach volleyball
2Multi-sport
1Skate park
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
April is the best month for walking in Brandon
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) | 10.5 | 11.2 | 11.9 | 12.8 | 13.5 | 13.9 | 13.7 | 13.1 | 12.3 | 11.4 | 10.7 | 10.4 |
| High (°F) | 71 | 74 | 78 | 83 | 88 | 90 | 91 | 91 | 90 | 85 | 78 | 73 |
| Rain (in) | 3.0 | 2.3 | 2.9 | 2.7 | 3.2 | 8.4 | 8.5 | 9.0 | 6.6 | 2.8 | 1.8 | 2.4 |
November is the driest month (1.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 91 °F). 9.0 inches fall in August, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 91 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Brandon →
Next door
Brandon and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Riverview34 miValrico6.9 miEast Lake-Orient Park4.3 miBrandon2.6 miSeffner2.3 miPalm River-Clair Mel1.8 miMango0.2 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon | 1% | 0.1 | 3 | 65% | C− |
| Mango | 3% | under 0.1 | 7 | 80% | C+ |
| Palm River-Clair Mel | 2% | 0.2 | 6 | 73% | C+ |
| Valrico | 2% | 0.5 | 4 | 45% | C+ |
| Riverview | 13% | 0.7 | 35 | 68% | A− |
| Seffner | 1% | 0.6 | 4 | 75% | C+ |
| East Lake-Orient Park | 1% | 0.3 | 16 | 63% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Brandon
Where can I hike in Brandon?
The longest trail networks: J. C. Handly Sports Complex, 0.4 miles; Lakeview Park, 0.3 miles; Lakewood Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Brandon is conserved land?
1% of its land, against a typical 3% for a Florida town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Brandon’s trails?
J. Handly Sports Complex and Lakeview Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Brandon?
45 miles of bike routes are on the map: 43 of painted or protected lanes, 1.8 of off-road paths and 0.7 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Brandon?
50,666 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Brandon or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 357 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Brandon have?
Ahead of 24% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #519 of 638 in Florida. 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 Brandon 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 →