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Larimer Memorial LibraryLarimer Memorial Library · Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY-SA 3.0
B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Palatka

Palatka has 8.8 miles of mapped trails, 0.9 for every square mile of land

The biggest trail networks: Ravine Gardens State Park (2.3 mi). 227 acres are parks and preserves, 21 per 1,000 residents. 79% of residents live within a half mile of a park.

Ahead of 73% of U.S. towns · #149 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

Conserved land
3%
216 acres · of 10.0 sq mi of land
Trails
8.8 mi
0.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
227 ac
21 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
79%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
4.2 mi
2.1 mi lanes · 2.1 mi paths

What kind of outdoors town is Palatka?

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

A trail town0.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 77% of U.S. towns.History along the way11 places on the National Register.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Palatka have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Palatka is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns, #149 of 638 in Florida. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; trail miles rank highest, conserved land lowest.

B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Palatka’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical FL town 3% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (9 mi) · FL 0.4 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land21 acres of park per 1,000 residents (227 acres) · FL 6 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home79% 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 73%
LessMore
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 77%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B 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.

1234
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 Ravine Gardens State Park, with 2.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Ravine Gardens State Park

Managed by Florida State Parks
59 acres2.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗

Bryan Park

Park
3 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Moseley Ball Park

Park
10 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trail sign

Riverfront Park

Park
7 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 8 parks & preserves
Ravine Gardens State Park59 acres · 2.3 mi of trail · Florida State Parks
Directions
Bryan Park3 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Moseley Ball Park10 acres
Directions
Riverfront Park7 acres
Directions
Danny Martinez Park7 acres · Putnam County
River Street Park3 acres
Fred Green Park3 acres
Shaw Buck Park2 acres
Who protects it

216 conserved acres

3% of Palatka’s land. Who manages Palatka’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

State parks144 ac
Town or city33 ac
County30 ac
Regional Water Districts9 ac
State Park · 144 acLocal Recreation Area · 35 acLocal Park · 26 acWatershed Protection Area · 9 acLocal Other or Unknown · 1 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 18 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Ravine Gardens State Park
State Park
State parks144Open
Central Recreation Complex
Local Recreation Area
County27Open
Walton Parcel
Watershed Protection Area
Regional Water Districts9Closed
James C Godwin Riverfront Park And Boat Ramp
Local Park
Town or city6Open
Forrester Field
Local Recreation Area
Town or city4Open
Hank Bryan Park
Local Park
Town or city3Open
Dr James A Long Community Park
Local Park
Town or city3Open
Mulholland Park
Local Park
Town or city3Open
Booker Park
Local Park
Town or city2Open
Fred Green Park
Local Park
Town or city2Open

5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.

Things to do

6 places to go in Palatka

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Playgrounds in Palatka

3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.

Biking & sports

4.2 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

2.1 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
2.1 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
17Baseball
16Pickleball
11Tennis
1Soccer

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

History along the way

11 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.

History →
Bronson-Mulholland HouseBuilding · listed 1972
About it
St. Marks Episcopal ChurchBuilding · listed 1973
About it
Palatka North Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1983
About it
Palatka South Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1983
About it
Old A.C.L. Union DepotBuilding · listed 1988
About it
Central AcademyBuilding · listed 1998
About it
Palatka Ravine Gardens Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1999
About it
Larimer Memorial LibraryBuilding · listed 2008
About it
Bethel African Methodist Episcopal ChurchBuilding · listed 2016
About it
Hotel JamesBuilding · listed 2019
About it
Palatka Water WorksDistrict · listed 2023
About it
When to get out

April is the best month for walking in Palatka

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)10.411.111.912.913.614.013.913.212.311.410.610.2
High (°F)687176828790929188827570
Rain (in)3.12.83.52.83.67.36.57.46.84.12.32.9

November is the driest month (2.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 92 °F). 7.4 inches fall in August, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 92 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Palatka →

Next door

Palatka and its neighbors

Palatka has the most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Palatka8.8 miEast Palatka3.9 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Palatka3%0.92179%B+
East Palatkaunder 1%1.2332%C

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Palatka

Where can I hike in Palatka?

The longest trail networks: Ravine Gardens State Park, 2.3 miles; Bryan Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Palatka 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 Palatka’s trails?

Ravine Gardens State Park and Bryan Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Palatka?

4.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.1 of painted or protected lanes and 2.1 of off-road paths.

Is there public land near Palatka?

15,789 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Palatka or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 227 of them inside the city line.

How much outdoors does Palatka have?

Ahead of 73% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #149 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 Palatka 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 →