Football Field and Track
Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Baxter Springs Independent Oil and Gas Service Station · Photo: Vanessa Ezekowitz · CC BY-SA 3.0C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Baxter Springs
Baxter Springs has 61 acres of parks, 16 for every 1,000 residents
0.1 miles of mapped trail cross Baxter Springs. 3% of Baxter Springs’ land is conserved, about 57 acres. 62% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 38% of U.S. towns · #100 of 151 in Kansas. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
57 acres · of 3.1 sq mi of land
Trails
0.1 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
61 ac
16 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
62%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.2 mi
0.2 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Baxter Springs?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Baxter Springs have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Baxter Springs is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #100 of 151 in Kansas. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Baxter Springs’ overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical KS town 2% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · KS 0.2 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land16 acres of park per 1,000 residents (61 acres) · KS 13 · U.S. 13BParks close to home62% of residents within a half mile of a park · KS 76% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 38%
LessMore
Kansas towns of 2,500+ (151)Ahead of 34%
Few Kansas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Baxter Springs’ 3% is ahead of 62% of Kansas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 15% of them.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Baxter Springs. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
57 conserved acres
3% of Baxter Springs’ land. Who manages Baxter Springs’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city57 ac
Local Park · 33 acLocal Recreation Area · 24 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kiwanis Park Local Park | Town or city | 24 | Open |
| Ball Fields Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 24 | Open |
| East Riverside Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Baxter Springs
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Baxter Springs
City Pool
DirectionsBiking & sports
0.2 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.2 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
9Baseball
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →4 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The walking year in Baxter Springs
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) | 9.9 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 13.1 | 14.1 | 14.7 | 14.5 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.2 | 10.1 | 9.6 |
| High (°F) | 46 | 51 | 60 | 70 | 78 | 86 | 91 | 90 | 83 | 71 | 59 | 49 |
| Rain (in) | 2.0 | 1.9 | 3.3 | 4.8 | 6.5 | 5.2 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 3.3 | 2.4 |
February is the driest month (1.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 91 °F). 6.5 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 91 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Baxter Springs →
Next door
Baxter Springs and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter Springs | 3% | under 0.1 | 16 | 62% | C+ |
| Spring Valley Township | under 1% | under 0.1 | 4 | 9% | D |
| Garden Township | under 1% | under 0.1 | 3 | 12% | D |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Baxter Springs
How much of Baxter Springs is conserved land?
3% of its land, against a typical 2% for a Kansas town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Baxter Springs’ trails?
Football Field and Track doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Baxter Springs?
0.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.2 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Baxter Springs?
382 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Baxter Springs or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 61 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Baxter Springs have?
Ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #100 of 151 in Kansas. 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 Baxter Springs 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 →