Ed Smith Complex
Park
20 acres0.3 mi of trail
Ed Smith Walking Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Michael Rivera · CC BY-SA 4.0COutdoors
Outdoors in Vidalia
Vidalia has 104 acres of parks, 9.7 for every 1,000 residents
3.0 miles of mapped trail cross Vidalia, 0.2 per square mile of land. 53% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 29% of U.S. towns · #185 of 264 in Georgia. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
41 acres · of 17.9 sq mi of land
Trails
3.0 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
104 ac
9.7 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
53%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
8
What kind of outdoors town is Vidalia?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Vidalia have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Vidalia is ahead of 29% of U.S. towns, #185 of 264 in Georgia. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; park acres per resident come closest.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Vidalia’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical GA town 2% · U.S. 4%C−Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · GA 0.2 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land9.7 acres of park per 1,000 residents (104 acres) · GA 9 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home53% of residents within a half mile of a park · GA 56% · U.S. 72%C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 29%
LessMore
Georgia towns of 2,500+ (264)Ahead of 30%
Few Georgia towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Vidalia’s under 1% is ahead of 13% of Georgia towns, while its trails per square mile lead 45% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would still be 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 Ed Smith Complex, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Vidalia Community Center Park
Managed by City of Vidalia
13 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Ben Smith Park & Splash Pad
Managed by City of Vidalia
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Turtle Park
Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 10 parks & preserves
Ed Smith Complex20 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
DirectionsVidalia Community Center Park13 acres · 0.3 mi of trail · City of Vidalia
Ben Smith Park & Splash Pad4 acres · City of Vidalia
Turtle Park3 acres
Flossie Hayes Park2 acres
Vidalia City Park2 acres
Gaynelle Davis Park1 acres
Vidalia Aquatics Park1 acres
Vidalia Downtown Gazebo1 acres
H.W Miller Park1 acres
Who protects it
41 conserved acres
under 1% of Vidalia’s land. Who manages Vidalia’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city33 ac
Army Corps of Engineers8 ac
Local Recreation Area · 33 acUnknown Easement · 8 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 8 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 3 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vidalia Rec Comp Stockyard Rd Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 17 | Open |
| Vidalia Rec Complex Bay St Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 16 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Vidalia
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Vidalia
Vidalia City PoolIn Vidalia Aquatics Park
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Vidalia
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
2 named trails and 8 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Ed Smith Walking Trail0.3 mi
Carter Circle0.1 mi
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
15Tennis
8Baseball
3Football
3Basketball
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).
Crawford W. Brazell HouseBuilding · listed 1982
About itMcLemore-Sharpe FarmsteadBuilding · listed 1982
About itPeterson-Wilbanks HouseBuilding · listed 1990
About itCitizens Bank of VidaliaBuilding · listed 1992
About itLeader-Rosansky HouseBuilding · listed 1995
About itVidalia Commercial Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1996
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Vidalia: 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) | 10.3 | 11.0 | 11.9 | 12.9 | 13.8 | 14.2 | 14.1 | 13.3 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.5 | 10.0 |
| High (°F) | 60 | 64 | 71 | 78 | 86 | 90 | 93 | 91 | 87 | 79 | 69 | 62 |
| Rain (in) | 3.9 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 3.4 | 2.9 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 5.4 | 3.9 | 2.9 | 2.8 | 3.8 |
November is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 93 °F). 5.4 inches fall in August, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 93 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Vidalia →
Next door
Vidalia and its neighbors
Vidalia has the 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vidalia | under 1% | 0.2 | 10 | 53% | C |
| Lyons | 1% | 0.3 | 11 | 54% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Vidalia
Where can I hike in Vidalia?
The longest trail networks: Ed Smith Complex, 0.3 miles; Vidalia Community Center Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Vidalia is conserved land?
under 1% 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 Vidalia’s trails?
Ed Smith Complex and Vidalia Community Center Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Vidalia?
185 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Vidalia or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 104 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Vidalia have?
Ahead of 29% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #185 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 Vidalia 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 →