Oak Tree Nature Park
Park
25 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Skye Marthaler · CC BY-SA 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Mary Esther
Mary Esther has 33 acres of parks, 8.2 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Oak Tree Nature Park (0.7 mi). 84% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.8 miles of mapped trail cross Mary Esther, 0.5 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 57% of U.S. towns · #258 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
25 acres · of 1.5 sq mi of land
Trails
0.8 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
33 ac
8.2 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
84%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Mary Esther?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Mary Esther have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Mary Esther is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns, #258 of 638 in Florida. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Mary Esther’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical FL town 3% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · FL 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land8.2 acres of park per 1,000 residents (33 acres) · FL 6 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home84% 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 57%
LessMore
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 60%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B− 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 Oak Tree Nature Park, with 0.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Springdale Park
Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Bryn Mawr Park
Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Elliott Road Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
25 conserved acres
3% of Mary Esther’s land. Who manages Mary Esther’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city25 ac
Local Conservation Area · 25 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Tree Nature Preserve Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 25 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Mary Esther
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Mary Esther
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
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
4Baseball
4Pickleball
1Basketball
1Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Mary Esther: April and May
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) | 10.4 | 11.1 | 11.9 | 12.9 | 13.7 | 14.1 | 13.9 | 13.2 | 12.3 | 11.4 | 10.6 | 10.2 |
| High (°F) | 61 | 65 | 70 | 75 | 83 | 87 | 90 | 89 | 87 | 80 | 71 | 64 |
| Rain (in) | 4.8 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 5.0 | 3.4 | 6.2 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 6.2 | 4.5 | 4.2 | 5.1 |
May is the driest month (3.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 7.5 inches fall in August, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Mary Esther →
Next door
Mary Esther 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mary Esther | 3% | 0.5 | 8 | 84% | B |
| Fort Walton Beach | 3% | 0.7 | 6 | 93% | B |
| Hurlburt Field | under 1% | 0.5 | 3 | 96% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Mary Esther
Where can I hike in Mary Esther?
The longest trail networks: Oak Tree Nature Park, 0.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Mary Esther is conserved land?
3% 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 Mary Esther’s trails?
Oak Tree Nature Park and Springdale Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Mary Esther?
342 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Mary Esther or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 33 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Mary Esther have?
Ahead of 57% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #258 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 Mary Esther 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 →