Photo: NASA · Public domainElwood has 12 acres of parks, 12 for every 1,000 residents
0.3 miles of mapped trail cross Elwood, 0.1 per square mile of land. 66% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 32% of U.S. towns. What drives it
How much outdoors does Elwood have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Elwood is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
Few Kansas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Elwood’s 1% is ahead of 26% of Kansas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 28% 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
11 conserved acres
1% of Elwood’s land. Who manages Elwood’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 11 | Open |
4 places to go in Elwood
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
0.0 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.
1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
April is the best month for walking in Elwood
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) | 9.6 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.4 | 15.0 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 37 | 43 | 55 | 66 | 76 | 84 | 88 | 87 | 80 | 67 | 53 | 41 |
| Rain (in) | 0.9 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 3.6 | 4.9 | 4.6 | 5.1 | 3.9 | 3.6 | 3.1 | 1.9 | 1.5 |
January is the driest month (0.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 5.1 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Elwood →
Elwood and its neighbors
Elwood has the 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elwood | 1% | 0.1 | 12 | 66% | C |
| Wathena | 1% | under 0.1 | 11 | 87% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Elwood
How much of Elwood is conserved land?
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 Elwood’s trails?
City Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Elwood?
2,788 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Elwood or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 12 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Elwood have?
Ahead of 32% 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 Elwood 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 →