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Madison City HallPhoto: Michael Rivera · CC BY-SA 3.0
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Madison

Few parks or trails are on the map in Madison

94% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 2% of Madison’s land is conserved, about 34 acres. 35 acres are parks and preserves, 12 per 1,000 residents.

Ahead of 39% of U.S. towns · #383 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

Conserved land
2%
34 acres · of 2.6 sq mi of land
Trails
0.0 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
35 ac
12 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
94%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1

What kind of outdoors town is Madison?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Madison have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Madison is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns, #383 of 638 in Florida. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.

C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Madison’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 39%
LessMore
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 40%
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Madison. 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 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
Who protects it

34 conserved acres

2% of Madison’s land. Who manages Madison’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Town or city34 ac
Local Park · 34 ac
The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Jesse Solomon Recreation Park
Local Park
Town or city18Open
Lanier Field Park
Local Park
Town or city8Open
Rev James C Miller Park
Local Park
Town or city5Open
Sumpter A James Jr Park
Local Park
Town or city1Open
Four Freedoms Park
Local Park
Town or city1Open
Lake Francis Recreation Area Park & Boat Ramp
Local Park
Town or city1Open
Trails & 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
2Baseball

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

8 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).

History →
Wardlaw-Smith HouseBuilding · listed 1972
About it
Dial-Goza HouseBuilding · listed 1973
About it
First Baptist ChurchBuilding · listed 1978
About it
St. Mary's Episcopal ChurchBuilding · listed 1997
About it
Jordan-Beggs HouseBuilding · listed 1997
About it
Dr. Chandler Holmes Smith HouseBuilding · listed 1998
About it
W.T. Davis BuildingBuilding · listed 2015
About it
Madison County Training SchoolDistrict · listed 2024
About it
When to get out

April is the best month for walking in Madison

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)10.411.111.912.913.714.113.913.212.311.410.610.2
High (°F)646874808690929188817266
Rain (in)4.73.74.63.63.07.06.46.64.93.22.53.4

November is the driest month (2.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 92 °F). 7.0 inches fall in June, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 92 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Madison →

Questions about parks and trails in Madison

How much of Madison is conserved land?

2% 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.

Is there public land near Madison?

3,416 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Madison or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 35 of them inside the city line.

How much outdoors does Madison have?

Ahead of 39% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #383 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 Madison neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →