Council Oak
Managed by City of Council Grove
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Douglas Kulp · CC BY 2.0C−Outdoors
Outdoors in Council Grove
Council Grove has 31 acres of parks, 14 for every 1,000 residents
0.2 miles of mapped trail cross Council Grove, 0.1 per square mile of land. 58% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 25% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
0 acres · of 2.1 sq mi of land
Trails
0.2 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
31 ac
14 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
58%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.9 mi
0.9 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Council Grove?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Council Grove have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Council Grove is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
C−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Council Grove’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical KS town 2% · U.S. 4%DTrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · KS 0.2 · U.S. 0.4CPark land14 acres of park per 1,000 residents (31 acres) · KS 13 · U.S. 13BParks close to home58% 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 25%
LessMore
Few Kansas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Council Grove’s under 1% is ahead of 5% of Kansas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 28% of them.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Council Grove. 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 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Things to do
3 places to go in Council Grove
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Council Grove
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Biking & sports
0.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.9 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
6Baseball
4Tennis
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →16 places on the National Register, one a National Historic Landmark
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 5 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Farmers and Drovers BankBuilding · listed 1971
About itLast Chance StoreBuilding · listed 1971
About itSeth Hays HouseBuilding · listed 1975
About itCouncil Grove National BankBuilding · listed 1976
About itFarmers and Drovers Bank and Indicator BuildingBuilding · listed 1982
About itSimcock HouseBuilding · listed 1982
About itCouncil Grove Carnegie LibraryBuilding · listed 1987
About itCottage House HotelBuilding · listed 1988
About itUS Post Office-Council GroveBuilding · listed 1989
About itFirst Baptist ChurchBuilding · listed 1995
About itCouncil Grove Missouri, Kansas and Texas DepotBuilding · listed 2001
About it4 more on the History page.
When to get out
The walking year in Council Grove
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) | 9.7 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 14.6 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 41 | 46 | 57 | 67 | 76 | 85 | 90 | 89 | 81 | 69 | 55 | 43 |
| Rain (in) | 0.8 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 3.4 | 5.3 | 4.9 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 3.2 | 2.6 | 1.7 | 1.3 |
January is the driest month (0.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 5.3 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Council Grove →
Next door
Council Grove and its neighbors
Council Grove has the second 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Council Grove | under 1% | 0.1 | 14 | 58% | C− |
| Township 2 | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Council Grove
How much of Council Grove is conserved land?
under 1% 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 Council Grove’s trails?
Council Oak doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Council Grove?
0.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.9 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Council Grove?
605 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Council Grove or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 31 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Council Grove have?
Ahead of 25% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Council Grove 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 →