Photo: Sam Beebe · CC BY 2.0Salmon has 55 acres of parks, 17 for every 1,000 residents
4.6 miles of mapped trail cross Salmon, 1.8 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Island Park (0.7 mi). 79% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 70% of U.S. towns · #15 of 59 in Idaho. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Salmon?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Salmon have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Salmon is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns, #15 of 59 in Idaho. Trail miles hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
Few Idaho towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Salmon’s 2% is ahead of 40% of Idaho towns, while its trails per square mile lead 86% of them.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Island Park, with 0.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
25 conserved acres
2% of Salmon’s land. Who manages Salmon’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salmon Field Office National Public Lands | Bureau of Land Management | 10 | Open |
| Local Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Island Park Access Site State Recreation Area | State fish & wildlife | 5 | Open |
| Lemhi Power Site Access Site State Recreation Area | State fish & wildlife | 4 | Open |
| Salmon National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 1 | Open |
8 places to go in Salmon
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Plus 1 dog park without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
4 boat launches without a name on the map.
3 named trails
0.5 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
7 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
The best walking months in Salmon: May, June, August and 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.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.1 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 37 | 50 | 59 | 69 | 76 | 87 | 86 | 75 | 59 | 42 | 30 |
| Rain (in) | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.6 |
February is the driest month (0.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 1.5 inches fall in June, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Salmon →
Questions about parks and trails in Salmon
Where can I hike in Salmon?
The longest trail networks: Island Park, 0.7 miles; Town Square Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Salmon is conserved land?
2% 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 Salmon’s trails?
Island Park and City Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Salmon?
0.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.5 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Salmon?
132,450 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Salmon or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 67 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Salmon have?
Ahead of 70% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #15 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 Salmon neighbors.
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 →