Cherokee Lake
Park
60 acres1.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: John Trainor · CC BY 2.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Thomasville
Thomasville has 7.2 miles of mapped trails, 0.5 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Cherokee Lake (1.5 mi). 78% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 327 acres are parks and preserves, 18 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 66% of U.S. towns · #38 of 264 in Georgia. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
378 acres · of 15.0 sq mi of land
Trails
7.2 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
327 ac
18 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
78%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.4 mi
1.4 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Thomasville?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Thomasville have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Thomasville is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns, #38 of 264 in Georgia. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park ranks highest, conserved land lowest.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Thomasville’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical GA town 2% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (7 mi) · GA 0.2 · U.S. 0.4BPark land18 acres of park per 1,000 residents (327 acres) · GA 9 · U.S. 13BParks close to home78% 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 66%
LessMore
Georgia towns of 2,500+ (264)Ahead of 86%
Few Georgia towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Thomasville’s 4% is ahead of 73% of Georgia towns, while its trails per square mile lead 73% of them.
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 Cherokee Lake, with 1.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Cassidy Road Park
Park
40 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Balfour Park
Managed by City of Thomasville Parks and Recreation
33 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 11 parks & preserves
Cherokee Lake60 acres · 1.5 mi of trail
DirectionsCassidy Road Park40 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Northside Park7 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Balfour Park33 acres · City of Thomasville Parks and Recreation
Paradise Park25 acres
DirectionsFrancis Weston Park17 acres
McIntyre Park15 acres
DirectionsThomasville Cultural Center6 acres
DirectionsMaury Tice Flowers Park3 acres
Flipper Park3 acres
Parnell Park31 acres
Who protects it
378 conserved acres
4% of Thomasville’s land. Who manages Thomasville’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city305 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits85 ac
State natural resources1 ac
Local Park · 290 acConservation Easement · 75 acLocal Recreation Area · 14 acPrivate Conservation · 7 acUnknown Easement · 3 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 78 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 22 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Remington Avenue Ball Parks Local Park | Town or city | 93 | Open |
| Cherokee Lake Local Park | Town or city | 60 | Open |
| Cassidy Road Park Local Park | Town or city | 33 | Open |
| Paradise Park Local Park | Town or city | 24 | Open |
| Varnadoe Park Local Park | Town or city | 18 | Open |
| McIntyre Park Local Park | Town or city | 16 | Open |
| Francis F. Weston Park Local Park | Town or city | 15 | Open |
| Varnedoe Sports Complex Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 14 | Open |
| Northside/Magnolia Park Local Park | Town or city | 14 | Open |
| Balfour Park Local Park | Town or city | 11 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
34 places to go in Thomasville
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Thomasville
33 playgrounds are on OpenStreetMap in all; the list shows named ones from the first 30.
Dog parks in Thomasville
1 dog park without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
2 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
1.4 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.4 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
26Tennis
23Baseball
15Soccer
9Basketball
6Football
3Pickleball
1Softball
1Skate park
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →33 places on the National Register, one a National Historic Landmark
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 8 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Augustine Hansell HouseBuilding · listed 1970
About itThomas County CourthouseBuilding · listed 1970
About itEphraim Ponder HouseBuilding · listed 1970
About itHardy Bryan HouseBuilding · listed 1970
About itPark FrontBuilding · listed 1970
About itWright HouseBuilding · listed 1970
About itBurch-Mitchell HouseBuilding · listed 1970
About itDr. David Brandon HouseBuilding · listed 1970
About itGreenwood PlantationDistrict · listed 1976
About itMillpond PlantationBuilding · listed 1976
About itEast Side SchoolBuilding · listed 1977
About it21 more on the History page.
When to get out
The best walking months in Thomasville: 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 | 14.0 | 13.3 | 12.3 | 11.4 | 10.5 | 10.2 |
| High (°F) | 62 | 66 | 72 | 79 | 86 | 90 | 91 | 91 | 87 | 80 | 71 | 64 |
| Rain (in) | 4.8 | 4.4 | 5.0 | 3.6 | 2.8 | 5.9 | 6.0 | 5.6 | 4.7 | 3.1 | 3.0 | 4.0 |
May is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 91 °F). 6.0 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 91 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Thomasville →
Questions about parks and trails in Thomasville
Where can I hike in Thomasville?
The longest trail networks: Cherokee Lake, 1.5 miles; Cassidy Road Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Thomasville is conserved land?
4% 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 Thomasville’s trails?
Cherokee Lake and Cassidy Road Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Thomasville?
1.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.4 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Thomasville?
2,908 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Thomasville or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 327 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Thomasville have?
Ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #38 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 Thomasville 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 →