Alafia River Reserve
Nature preserve
201 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Glover School · Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY-SA 3.0COutdoors
Outdoors in Willow Oak
10% of Willow Oak’s land is conserved: 201 acres
5 acres are parks and preserves, 0.7 per 1,000 residents. 0.2 miles of mapped trail cross Willow Oak, 0.1 per square mile of land. 33% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 27% of U.S. towns · #486 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Conserved land
10%
201 acres · of 3.1 sq mi of land
Trails
0.2 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
5 ac
0.7 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
33%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.7 mi
0.7 mi lanes
What kind of outdoors town is Willow Oak?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Willow Oak have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Willow Oak is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns, #486 of 638 in Florida. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Willow Oak’s overall grade.
Conserved land10% of the land · typical FL town 3% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · FL 0.4 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land0.7 acres of park per 1,000 residents (5 acres) · FL 6 · U.S. 13DParks close to home33% of residents within a half mile of a park · FL 70% · U.S. 72%C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 27%
LessMore
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 24%
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Willow Oak. 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 D to C+. 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
201 conserved acres
10% of Willow Oak’s land. Who manages Willow Oak’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Regional Water Districts200 ac
State land board1 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 200 acState Historic or Cultural Area · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 2 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alafia Reserve Local Other or Unknown | Regional Water Districts | 200 | Unknown |
| North Prong Alafia River State Historic or Cultural Area | State land board | 1 | Open |
Biking & sports
0.7 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.7 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
When to get out
April is the best month for walking in Willow Oak
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 | 13.9 | 13.7 | 13.1 | 12.3 | 11.4 | 10.7 | 10.4 |
| High (°F) | 72 | 75 | 79 | 84 | 89 | 91 | 92 | 92 | 90 | 85 | 78 | 74 |
| Rain (in) | 2.9 | 2.3 | 2.9 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 8.9 | 8.4 | 8.5 | 6.9 | 2.7 | 1.8 | 2.5 |
November is the driest month (1.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 92 °F). 8.9 inches fall in June, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 92 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Willow Oak →
Next door
Willow Oak and its neighbors
Willow Oak 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willow Oak | 10% | 0.1 | 1 | 33% | C |
| Mulberry | 15% | 0.7 | 153 | 86% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Willow Oak
How much of Willow Oak 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 Willow Oak’s trails?
Alafia River Reserve doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Willow Oak?
0.7 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.7 of painted or protected lanes.
Is there public land near Willow Oak?
17,887 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Willow Oak or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 5 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Willow Oak have?
Ahead of 27% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #486 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 Willow Oak 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 →