Photo: KeanoManu · CC BY-SA 4.0Fort Lauderdale has 22 miles of mapped trails, 0.6 for every square mile of land
93% of residents live within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Holiday Park (2.1 mi), Hugh Taylor Birch State Park (2 mi), Sunland Park (1.2 mi). 954 acres are parks and preserves, 5.1 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 62% of U.S. towns · #218 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Fort Lauderdale?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Fort Lauderdale have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Fort Lauderdale is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns, #218 of 638 in Florida. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Fort Lauderdale ranks #313 on Outdoors.
Park acres per resident are where Fort Lauderdale trails most U.S. towns: 5.1 per 1,000 against 12.6 typical, since 188,677 people share 954 acres.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Holiday Park, with 2.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Hugh Taylor Birch State Park
Mills Pond Park
Edgewood Park
All 57 parks & preserves
907 conserved acres
4% of Fort Lauderdale’s land. Who manages Fort Lauderdale’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 8 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 13 of 116 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hugh Taylor Birch State Park State Park | State Department of Land | 161 | Open |
| Holiday Park Local Park | Town or city | 86 | Open |
| Snyder Park Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 86 | Open |
| Mills Pond Conservation Area Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 54 | Open |
| Lockhart Stadium Local Park | Town or city | 42 | Open |
| Bonnet House Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 35 | Open |
| Osswald Park Local Park | Town or city | 31 | Open |
| Fort Lauderdale Stadium Local Park | Town or city | 26 | Open |
| Joseph C. Carter Park Local Park | Town or city | 23 | Open |
| William J. Kelly Rookery Local Other or Unknown | County | 16 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
65 places to go in Fort Lauderdale
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Plus 7 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
43 playgrounds are on OpenStreetMap in all; the list shows named ones from the first 30.
7 boat launches without a name on the map.
29 lakes & rivers
76 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
17 places on the National Register, one a National Historic Landmark
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 3 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
5 more on the History page.
April is the best month for walking in Fort Lauderdale
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) | 10.7 | 11.2 | 11.9 | 12.7 | 13.4 | 13.8 | 13.6 | 13.0 | 12.3 | 11.5 | 10.8 | 10.5 |
| High (°F) | 76 | 77 | 79 | 83 | 85 | 89 | 90 | 90 | 89 | 86 | 81 | 77 |
| Rain (in) | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 3.5 | 5.6 | 8.7 | 6.6 | 7.8 | 8.1 | 6.8 | 3.8 | 2.6 |
January is the driest month (2.6 in) and August the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 8.7 inches fall in June, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Fort Lauderdale →
Fort Lauderdale 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Lauderdale | 4% | 0.6 | 5 | 93% | B |
| Oakland Park | 3% | 0.3 | 3 | 94% | B− |
| Wilton Manors | 3% | 1.0 | 3 | 99% | B |
| Pompano Beach | 2% | 1.2 | 3 | 83% | B− |
| Dania Beach | 8% | 0.5 | 11 | 99% | A− |
| Tamarac | 3% | 0.4 | 3 | 88% | B− |
| North Lauderdale | 3% | 0.4 | 2 | 94% | B− |
| Davie | 8% | 1.2 | 17 | 89% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Fort Lauderdale
Where can I hike in Fort Lauderdale?
The longest trail networks: Holiday Park, 2.1 miles; Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, 2 miles; Sunland Park, 1.2 miles; George English Park, 0.8 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Fort Lauderdale is conserved land?
4% 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 Fort Lauderdale’s trails?
Holiday Park and Hugh Taylor Birch State Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Fort Lauderdale?
76 miles of bike routes are on the map: 65 of painted or protected lanes, 7.6 of off-road paths and 3.4 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Fort Lauderdale?
14,064 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Fort Lauderdale or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 954 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Fort Lauderdale have?
Ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #218 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 Fort Lauderdale neighbors.
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 →