Buford Nature Preserve
Nature preserve
16 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: SudoGhost · CC BY-SA 3.0C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Buford
Buford has 151 acres of parks, 8.4 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Buford Nature Preserve (0.7 mi). 2.7 miles of mapped trail cross Buford, 0.1 per square mile of land. 57% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 37% of U.S. towns · #144 of 264 in Georgia. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
342 acres · of 19.1 sq mi of land
Trails
2.7 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
151 ac
8.4 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
57%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
5.6 mi
5.5 mi lanes · 0.1 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Buford have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Buford is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns, #144 of 264 in Georgia. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; conserved land comes closest.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Buford’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical GA town 2% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · GA 0.2 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land8.4 acres of park per 1,000 residents (151 acres) · GA 9 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home57% of residents within a half mile of a park · GA 56% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 37%
LessMore
Georgia towns of 2,500+ (264)Ahead of 46%
Few Georgia towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Buford’s 3% is ahead of 60% of Georgia towns, while its trails per square mile lead 38% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C 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
The longest trail network is Buford Nature Preserve, with 0.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Lake Lanier Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
342 conserved acres
3% of Buford’s land. Who manages Buford’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County218 ac
Town or city115 ac
Army Corps of Engineers14 ac
Private owners6 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 193 acLocal Recreation Area · 83 acLocal Park · 51 acRecreation Management Area · 14 acLocal Conservation Area · 13 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 11 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buford High School Local Other or Unknown | County | 193 | Unknown |
| Legion Fields Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 70 | Open |
| Buford Greenspace Local Park | Town or city | 30 | Open |
| Sidney Lanier Recreation Area Recreation Management Area | Army Corps of Engineers | 14 | Open |
| Greenspace Program Acquisition Local Recreation Area | County | 13 | Open |
| Bona Allen Park #2 Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 13 | Open |
| Gwinnett County Greenspace Local Park | County | 12 | Open |
| Buford Community Center Town Park Local Park | Private owners | 6 | Open |
| Buford Town Green Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Grace Harris Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
15 places to go in Buford
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Buford
15 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Bell Street Northeast0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
5.6 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
5.5 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
0.1 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
28Tennis
11Baseball
6Football
3Soccer
2Pickleball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →6 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Bowman-Pirkle HouseBuilding · listed 1973
About itBona Allen HouseBuilding · listed 1983
About itJohn Quincy Allen HouseBuilding · listed 1984
About itBona Allen Shoe and Horse Collar FactoryBuilding · listed 2005
About itBuford Public School AuditoriumBuilding · listed 2009
About itFriendship Baptist Church CemeterySite · listed 2019
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Buford: April to June
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) | 10.1 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 13.9 | 14.4 | 14.2 | 13.4 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.3 | 9.9 |
| High (°F) | 52 | 56 | 64 | 72 | 79 | 85 | 88 | 87 | 82 | 72 | 62 | 54 |
| Rain (in) | 5.0 | 4.9 | 5.1 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 4.9 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 4.3 | 4.8 |
October is the driest month (3.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 5.1 inches fall in March, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Buford →
Next door
Buford 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buford | 3% | 0.1 | 8 | 57% | C+ |
| Sugar Hill | 10% | 0.7 | 33 | 78% | A− |
| Flowery Branch | 3% | 0.8 | 19 | 45% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Buford
Where can I hike in Buford?
The longest trail networks: Buford Nature Preserve, 0.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Buford is conserved land?
3% of its land, against a typical 2% for a Georgia town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Buford’s trails?
Buford Nature Preserve and Lake Lanier Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Buford?
5.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 5.5 of painted or protected lanes and 0.1 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Buford?
19,407 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Buford or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 167 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Buford have?
Ahead of 37% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #144 of 264 in Georgia. 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 Buford 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 →