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Moscow Downtown Historic DistrictMoscow Downtown Historic District · Photo: Candy29c · CC BY-SA 3.0
B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Moscow

Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Moscow

Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 7.2 miles of mapped trail cross Moscow, 1.0 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: UI Arboretum and Botanical Garden (2.5 mi), PCEI Nature Center (2.2 mi).

Ahead of 73% of U.S. towns · #11 of 59 in Idaho. What drives it

Conserved land
3%
114 acres · of 6.9 sq mi of land
Trails
7.2 mi
1.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
225 ac
8.6 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
8.8 mi
4.0 mi lanes · 4.8 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1

What kind of outdoors town is Moscow?

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

Parks close to homeVirtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park.A trail town1.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 81% of U.S. towns.History along the way22 places on the National Register.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Moscow have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Moscow is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns, #11 of 59 in Idaho. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.

B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Moscow’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical ID town 2% · U.S. 4%B−Trails1.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (7 mi) · ID 0.7 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land8.6 acres of park per 1,000 residents (225 acres) · ID 6 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · ID 87% · U.S. 72%A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 73%
LessMore
Idaho towns of 2,500+ (59)Ahead of 83%

Few Idaho towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Moscow’s 3% is ahead of 64% of Idaho towns, while its trails per square mile lead 66% of them.

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 UI Arboretum and Botanical Garden, with 2.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

UI Arboretum and Botanical Garden

Park
44 acres2.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

PCEI Nature Center

Managed by Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute
27 acres2.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Latah County Fairgrounds

Park
14 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 20 parks & preserves
UI Arboretum and Botanical Garden44 acres · 2.5 mi of trail
Directions
PCEI Nature Center27 acres · 2.2 mi of trail · Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute
Directions
Mountain View Park15 acres
Directions
Latah County Fairgrounds14 acres
Shattuck Arboretum14 acres
Directions
Ghormley Park9 acres
Directions
East City Park8 acres
Anderson Frontier Park6 acres
Lola Clyde Park5 acres · City of Moscow
Directions
Lena Whitmore Park4 acres
Carol Ryrie Brink Nature Park3 acres
Directions
Kiwanis Park3 acres
Directions
Jim Lyle Rotary Park2 acres
Berman Creekside Park2 acres
Triangle Park2 acres
Almon Asbury Lieuallen Park1 acres
Indian Hills Park1 acres
Altures Park1 acres
Itani Park1 acres
Lilian Woodworth Otness Park1 acres
Who protects it

114 conserved acres

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

Other state land56 ac
Town or city54 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits4 ac
Local Park · 58 acLocal Conservation Area · 50 acUnknown Easement · 4 acState Other or Unknown · 1 acLocal Recreation Area · 1 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 4 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 17 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Arboretum & Botanical Garden
Local Conservation Area
Other state land45Open
Mountain View Park
Local Park
Town or city14Open
University Open Space
Local Park
Other state land10Open
Ghormley Park
Local Park
Town or city10Open
East City Park
Local Park
Town or city7Open
Anderson Frontier Park
Local Park
Town or city6Open
Pcei Nature Center
Local Conservation Area
Town or city5Open
Herons Hideout
Local Park
Town or city4Open
Berman Creekside Park
Local Park
Town or city2Open
Jim Lyle Rotary Park
Local Park
Town or city2Open

5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.

Things to do

24 places to go in Moscow

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

Playgrounds in Moscow
Lion's ParkIn Latah County Fairgrounds
Directions

Plus 20 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.

Trails & water

1 lakes & rivers

Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Hordemann Pondpond
Biking & sports

8.8 miles of bike routes

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

4.0 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
4.8 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
10Tennis
8Baseball
5Basketball
3Football
3Beach volleyball
1Soccer
1Skate park

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

History along the way

22 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 →
Moscow Post Office and CourthouseBuilding · listed 1973
About it
W. J. McConnell HouseBuilding · listed 1974
About it
Ridenbaugh HallBuilding · listed 1977
About it
Memorial GymnasiumBuilding · listed 1977
About it
Mason Cornwall HouseBuilding · listed 1977
About it
Almon Asbury Lieuallen HouseBuilding · listed 1978
About it
McConnell-McGuire BuildingBuilding · listed 1978
About it
Administration Building, University of IdahoBuilding · listed 1978
About it
Skattaboe BlockBuilding · listed 1978
About it
First Methodist ChurchBuilding · listed 1978
About it
Hotel MoscowBuilding · listed 1978
About it
Moscow Carnegie LibraryBuilding · listed 1979
About it

10 more on the History page.

When to get out

The best walking months in Moscow: May to September

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)8.910.211.813.515.015.815.514.212.510.89.38.6
High (°F)384250576673848575604537
Rain (in)3.02.42.62.52.41.60.60.60.92.13.13.2

August is the driest month (0.6 in) and the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 3.2 inches fall in December, the wettest month. The climate in Moscow →

Questions about parks and trails in Moscow

Where can I hike in Moscow?

The longest trail networks: UI Arboretum and Botanical Garden, 2.5 miles; PCEI Nature Center, 2.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Moscow is conserved land?

3% of its land, against a typical 2% for an Idaho town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.

Are dogs allowed on Moscow’s trails?

UI Arboretum and Botanical Garden and PCEI Nature Center don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Moscow?

8.8 miles of bike routes are on the map: 4.0 of painted or protected lanes and 4.8 of off-road paths.

Is there public land near Moscow?

2,005 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Moscow or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 225 of them inside the city line.

How much outdoors does Moscow have?

Ahead of 73% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #11 of 59 in Idaho. 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 Moscow 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 →