Oscar Scherer State Park
Managed by Florida State Parks
242 acres1.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Johnson Chapel Missionary Baptist Church · Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY-SA 3.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Laurel
Laurel has 12 miles of mapped trails, 1.3 for every square mile of land
478 acres are parks and preserves, 41 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Oscar Scherer State Park (1.6 mi). 8% of Laurel’s land is conserved, about 475 acres.
Ahead of 84% of U.S. towns · #85 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Conserved land
8%
475 acres · of 9.1 sq mi of land
Trails
12 mi
1.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
478 ac
41 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
65%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
21 mi
12 mi lanes · 8.0 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Laurel?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Laurel have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Laurel is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns, #85 of 638 in Florida. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; trail miles rank highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Laurel’s overall grade.
Conserved land8% of the land · typical FL town 3% · U.S. 4%B+Trails1.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (12 mi) · FL 0.4 · U.S. 0.4APark land41 acres of park per 1,000 residents (478 acres) · FL 6 · U.S. 13A−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 84%
LessMore
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 87%
Water is 11% of Laurel’s area (1 of 10 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 7%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. 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 Oscar Scherer State Park, with 1.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
475 conserved acres
8% of Laurel’s land. Water is left out: Laurel has 9.1 square miles of land and 1.1 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Laurel’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County240 ac
State parks239 ac
State Park · 239 acLocal Other or Unknown · 174 acLocal Recreation Area · 42 acLocal Park · 24 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oscar Scherer State Park State Park | State parks | 239 | Open |
| Fox Creek Local Other or Unknown | County | 162 | Open |
| Legacy Trail Local Recreation Area | County | 42 | Open |
| Laurel Park Local Park | County | 14 | Open |
| Rattlesnake Island Local Other or Unknown | County | 12 | Open |
| Sorrento Park East Local Park | County | 5 | Open |
| Mission Valley Estates Park Site Local Park | County | 4 | Open |
| Bay Point Park Local Park | County | 1 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Laurel
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Laurel
1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in Laurel
1 playground without a name on the map.
Dog parks in Laurel
1 dog park without a name on the map.
Community gardens in Laurel
1 community garden without a name on the map.
Biking & sports
21 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
12 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
8.0 mi
off-road bike paths
1.1 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
19Tennis
3Volleyball
2Basketball
2Pickleball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Johnson Chapel Missionary Baptist ChurchBuilding · listed 1997
About itWhen to get out
April is the best month for walking in Laurel
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) | 10.6 | 11.2 | 11.9 | 12.8 | 13.5 | 13.8 | 13.7 | 13.1 | 12.3 | 11.5 | 10.8 | 10.4 |
| High (°F) | 73 | 75 | 78 | 83 | 88 | 91 | 92 | 92 | 90 | 86 | 80 | 75 |
| Rain (in) | 2.6 | 2.2 | 2.9 | 2.5 | 3.4 | 8.0 | 7.7 | 9.1 | 7.5 | 3.1 | 1.9 | 2.3 |
November is the driest month (1.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 92 °F). 9.1 inches fall in August, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 92 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Laurel →
Next door
Laurel and its neighbors
Laurel has the second most mapped trails of the 4 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Laurel
Where can I hike in Laurel?
The longest trail networks: Oscar Scherer State Park, 1.6 miles; Laurel Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Laurel is conserved land?
8% 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 Laurel’s trails?
Oscar Scherer State Park and Laurel Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Laurel?
21 miles of bike routes are on the map: 12 of painted or protected lanes, 8.0 of off-road paths and 1.1 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Laurel?
41,260 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Laurel or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 478 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Laurel have?
Ahead of 84% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #85 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 Laurel 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 →