Circle B Bar Reserve
Nature preserve
328 acres1.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Highland City
10% of Highland City’s land is conserved: 510 acres
The biggest trail networks: Circle B Bar Reserve (1.9 mi). 34 acres are parks and preserves, 2.6 per 1,000 residents. 4.0 miles of mapped trail cross Highland City, 0.5 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 51% of U.S. towns · #306 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Conserved land
10%
510 acres · of 7.8 sq mi of land
Trails
4.0 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
34 ac
2.6 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
56%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
13 mi
9.4 mi lanes · 3.4 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Highland City?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Highland City have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Highland City is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns, #306 of 638 in Florida. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Highland City’s overall grade.
Conserved land10% of the land · typical FL town 3% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (4 mi) · FL 0.4 · U.S. 0.4BPark land2.6 acres of park per 1,000 residents (34 acres) · FL 6 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home56% 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 51%
LessMore
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 52%
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 Circle B Bar Reserve, with 1.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
510 conserved acres
10% of Highland City’s land. Who manages Highland City’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County357 ac
Regional Water Districts143 ac
Town or city10 ac
Local Conservation Area · 333 acWatershed Protection Area · 143 acLocal Recreation Area · 25 acLocal Park · 9 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Circle B Bar Reserve Local Conservation Area | County | 333 | Restricted |
| Lake Hancock Watershed Protection Area | Regional Water Districts | 143 | Closed |
| Highland City Senior Field Local Recreation Area | County | 15 | Open |
| Highland City Baseball Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 10 | Open |
| Banana Lake Park & Boat Ramp Local Park | County | 9 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Highland City
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Highland City
Lake Hancock Boat Ramp
DirectionsLake Hancock Boat Ramp
DirectionsBiking & sports
13 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
9.4 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
3.4 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
4Baseball
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 Highland City
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) | 72 | 75 | 79 | 84 | 89 | 91 | 92 | 92 | 90 | 85 | 79 | 74 |
| Rain (in) | 2.8 | 2.3 | 3.0 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 8.8 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 6.9 | 2.8 | 1.8 | 2.5 |
November is the driest month (1.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 92 °F). 8.8 inches fall in June, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 92 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Highland City →
Next door
Highland City and its neighbors
Highland City 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highland City | 10% | 0.5 | 3 | 56% | B− |
| Bartow | 20% | 0.3 | 120 | 82% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Highland City
Where can I hike in Highland City?
The longest trail networks: Circle B Bar Reserve, 1.9 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Highland City is conserved land?
10% 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 Highland City’s trails?
Circle B Bar Reserve doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Highland City?
13 miles of bike routes are on the map: 9.4 of painted or protected lanes and 3.4 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Highland City?
10,002 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Highland City or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 34 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Highland City have?
Ahead of 51% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #306 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 Highland City 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 →