Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve
Nature preserve
198 acres4.5 mi of trail
East TrailMain TrailSouthwest TrailNewburgh Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Nyttend · Public domainB−Outdoors
Outdoors in Evansville
Evansville has 27 miles of mapped trails, 0.6 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve (4.5 mi), Howell Wetlands (1.9 mi), North Woods Nature Trails (1 mi). 881 acres are parks and preserves, 7.6 per 1,000 residents. 3% of Evansville’s land is conserved, about 819 acres.
Ahead of 50% of U.S. towns · #190 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
819 acres · of 47.4 sq mi of land
Trails
27 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
881 ac
7.6 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
65%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
48 mi
12 mi lanes · 17 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
4
What kind of outdoors town is Evansville?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Evansville have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Evansville is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns, #190 of 593 in Indiana. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Evansville’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical IN town 2% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (27 mi) · IN 0.1 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land7.6 acres of park per 1,000 residents (881 acres) · IN 10 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home65% of residents within a half mile of a park · IN 51% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 50%
LessMore
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 68%
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Evansville ranks #356 on Outdoors.
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Evansville’s 3% is ahead of 63% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 85% of them.
Park acres per resident are where Evansville trails most U.S. towns: 7.6 per 1,000 against 12.6 typical, since 116,176 people share 881 acres.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ 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 Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve, with 4.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
North Woods Nature Trails
Park
33 acres1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
State Hospitals Grounds Park
Park
49 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 45 parks & preserves
Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve198 acres · 4.5 mi of trail
DirectionsHowell Wetlands56 acres · 1.9 mi of trail
DirectionsNorth Woods Nature Trails33 acres · 1 mi of trail
DirectionsWesselman Park97 acres · 0.9 mi of trail
DirectionsState Hospitals Grounds Park49 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
DirectionsGarvin Park53 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
DirectionsRoberts Park27 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
DirectionsDiamond Valley Park6 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
DirectionsHowell Park38 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
DirectionsSunrise Park10 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsWestside Library Park3 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Kleymeyer Park72 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsLamasco Park20 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsReitz High School's Barker Avenue Sports Complex14 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsBayard Park12 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Helfrich Park8 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsMesker Park48 acres
DirectionsIgleheart Park36 acres
DirectionsGolfmoor Park35 acres
State Hospital Grounds Park26 acres
DirectionsRitzy's Sportsplex16 acres
DirectionsAkin Park10 acres
Stockwell Park10 acres
Vann Pollack Park9 acres
Stringtown Community Park9 acres
DirectionsHighland Baseball Park7 acres
DirectionsBellemeade Park7 acres
Anthony Oates Park7 acres
Sunset Park6 acres
DirectionsWillard Library Park5 acres
DirectionsVann Park5 acres
Sunset Park East3 acres
DirectionsLorraine Park3 acres
UE Commons (Clifford Circle)3 acres
DirectionsTepe Park2 acres
Little Westside Nut Club Park1 acres
DirectionsSheridan Park1 acres
Fulton Park1 acres
DirectionsCasselberry Park1 acres
Caldwell Park1 acres
Eleventh Avenue Park1 acres
Stevenson Park1 acres
DirectionsLine Street Park1 acres
Sixth Avenue Park1 acres
Goosetown Mini Park1 acres
Who protects it
819 conserved acres
3% of Evansville’s land. Who manages Evansville’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city727 ac
County60 ac
Other state land30 ac
Local Park · 556 acState Conservation Area · 232 acConservation Easement · 30 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 30 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 35 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wesselman Park Woods Nature Preserve State Conservation Area | Town or city | 232 | Restricted |
| Kleymeyer Park Local Park | Town or city | 72 | Open |
| Mesker Park Local Park | Town or city | 70 | Open |
| Stream Valley Park Local Park | County | 60 | Open |
| Igleheart Park Local Park | Town or city | 59 | Open |
| State Hospital Grounds Park Local Park | Town or city | 55 | Open |
| Garvin Park Local Park | Town or city | 42 | Open |
| Howell Park Local Park | Town or city | 39 | Open |
| Golfmoor (Helfrich) Park Local Park | Town or city | 29 | Open |
| Sunset Park Local Park | Town or city | 19 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
37 places to go in Evansville
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Evansville
Playgrounds in Evansville
Deep Blue Indoor Play
DirectionsHowell Park Playground AreaIn Howell Park
DirectionsMickeys’s KingdomIn Sunset Park
DirectionsNature PlayscapeIn Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve
DirectionsNorth Woods PlaygroundIn Igleheart Park
DirectionsOver the Rainbow - A Playground for All ChildrenIn Wesselman Park
Directions31 playgrounds are on OpenStreetMap in all; the list shows named ones from the first 30.
Dog parks in Evansville
Central Bark Dog ParkIn Kleymeyer Park
DirectionsEarthborn Holistic Dog ParkHours: Open 24 hours
DirectionsScenic views in Evansville
Merchand Bridge Overlook
DirectionsTrails & water
13 named trails and 4 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 9.4 mi
East Trail0.7 mi
Main Trail0.5 mi
Southwest Trail0.5 mi
Newburgh Trail0.4 mi
Seasonal Pond Trail0.3 mi
Field Trails0.3 mi
Boonville Trail0.3 mi
Toyota Break Trail0.3 mi
Wabash Erie Trail0.3 mi
Tulip Ridge Trail0.1 mi
3 more trails
Mini Loop Trail
0.1 miEdge Trail
0.1 miOdonata Pond Boardwalk
0.1 miLakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
48 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
12 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
17 mi
off-road bike paths
19 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
57Baseball
53Tennis
22Basketball
12Football
8Soccer
5Beach volleyball
2Skate park
1Softball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →90 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 9 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Old Vanderburgh County CourthouseBuilding · listed 1970
About itFormer Vanderburgh County Sheriff's ResidenceBuilding · listed 1970
About itEvansville Post OfficeBuilding · listed 1971
About itWillard LibraryBuilding · listed 1972
About itJohn Augustus Reitz HouseBuilding · listed 1973
About itWillard Carpenter HouseBuilding · listed 1978
About itRiverside Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1978
About itWilliam Bedford Sr. HouseBuilding · listed 1978
About itLiberty Baptist ChurchBuilding · listed 1978
About itSoldiers and Sailors Memorial ColiseumBuilding · listed 1979
About itAlhambra TheatoriumBuilding · listed 1979
About itGreyhound Bus TerminalBuilding · listed 1979
About it78 more on the History page.
When to get out
June is the best month for walking in Evansville
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) | 9.8 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.1 | 14.2 | 14.8 | 14.5 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.1 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 41 | 46 | 56 | 68 | 77 | 86 | 88 | 87 | 81 | 70 | 56 | 46 |
| Rain (in) | 3.4 | 3.3 | 4.6 | 5.1 | 5.1 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
August is the driest month (3.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 5.1 inches fall in April, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Evansville →
Next door
Evansville and its neighbors
Evansville has the most mapped trails of the 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evansville | 3% | 0.6 | 8 | 65% | B− |
| Pigeon Township | 3% | 0.5 | 6 | 89% | B |
| Knight Township | 4% | 0.7 | 15 | 58% | B |
| Center Township | 1% | 0.4 | 9 | 39% | C+ |
| Ohio Township | under 1% | 0.1 | 5 | 23% | C− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Evansville
Where can I hike in Evansville?
The longest trail networks: Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve, 4.5 miles; Howell Wetlands, 1.9 miles; North Woods Nature Trails, 1 miles; Wesselman Park, 0.9 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Evansville is conserved land?
3% of its land, against a typical 2% for an Indiana town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Evansville’s trails?
Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve and Howell Wetlands don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Evansville?
48 miles of bike routes are on the map: 12 of painted or protected lanes, 17 of off-road paths and 19 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Evansville?
5,980 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Evansville or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 881 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Evansville have?
Ahead of 50% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #190 of 593 in Indiana. 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 Evansville 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 →