Gunn Park
Managed by City of Fort Scott
128 acres4.8 mi of trail
Bleeding KansasLittle BighornBuckskinCuster’s Last Stand
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailhead
Photo: Paltron · CC BY-SA 4.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Fort Scott
Fort Scott has 6.6 miles of mapped trails, 1.2 for every square mile of land
93% of residents live within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Gunn Park (4.8 mi), Ellis Park (0.8 mi). 229 acres are parks and preserves, 30 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 86% of U.S. towns · #7 of 151 in Kansas. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
160 acres · of 5.6 sq mi of land
Trails
6.6 mi
1.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
229 ac
30 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
93%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.3 mi
0.3 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
3
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Fort Scott?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Fort Scott have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Fort Scott is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #7 of 151 in Kansas. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; trail miles rank highest, conserved land lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Fort Scott’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical KS town 2% · U.S. 4%BTrails1.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (7 mi) · KS 0.2 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land30 acres of park per 1,000 residents (229 acres) · KS 13 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home93% of residents within a half mile of a park · KS 76% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 86%
LessMore
Kansas towns of 2,500+ (151)Ahead of 96%
Few Kansas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Fort Scott’s 5% is ahead of 81% of Kansas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 91% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. 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 Gunn Park, with 4.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Ellis Park
Park
15 acres0.8 mi of trail
Ellis Park Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Fort Scott National Historic Site
Managed by National Park Service
16 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dogs usually limited
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Bourbon County Fairgrounds
Park
27 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 8 parks & preserves
Gunn Park128 acres · 4.8 mi of trail · City of Fort Scott
DirectionsEllis Park15 acres · 0.8 mi of trail
Fort Scott National Historic Site16 acres · 0.3 mi of trail · National Park Service
DirectionsBourbon County Fairgrounds27 acres
Marmaton Park14 acres
DirectionsFisher Park13 acres
Directions3rd Street Park2 acres · City of Fort Scott
Nelson Park1 acres
Who protects it
160 conserved acres
5% of Fort Scott’s land. Who manages Fort Scott’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city143 ac
National Park Service17 ac
Local Park · 143 acHistoric or Cultural Area · 17 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gunn Park Local Park | Town or city | 99 | Open |
| Fort Scott National Historic Site Historic or Cultural Area | National Park Service | 17 | Restricted |
| Ellis Park Local Park | Town or city | 17 | Open |
| Fisher Park Local Park | Town or city | 16 | Open |
| Bridal Veil Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
Things to do
7 places to go in Fort Scott
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Fort Scott
5 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Fort Scott
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Disc golf in Fort Scott
Gunn Park Disc Golf CourseIn Gunn Park
DirectionsTrails & water
6 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 5.3 miUnpaved · 4.8 mi
Bleeding Kansas2.0 mi
Little Bighorn1.5 mi
Ellis Park Trail0.8 mi
Buckskin0.7 mi
Custer’s Last Stand0.6 mi
Fort Scott Sports Field Path0.5 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
3.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.3 mi
off-road bike paths
3.1 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
9Baseball
2Football
2Golf
2Tennis
1Skate park
1Basketball
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →10 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 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Union BlockBuilding · listed 1972
About itMoody BuildingBuilding · listed 1977
About itFort Scott Public Carnegie LibraryBuilding · listed 1987
About itFort Scott National CemeterySite · listed 1999
About itFirst Congregational ChurchBuilding · listed 2005
About itWare, Eugene, Elementary SchoolBuilding · listed 2005
About itFort Scott Downtown Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2009
About itThomas L. and Anna B. Herbert HouseBuilding · listed 2021
About itClaude and Alberta Brant HouseBuilding · listed 2022
About itWhen to get out
The walking year in Fort Scott
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 | 9.6 |
| High (°F) | 42 | 48 | 58 | 67 | 76 | 85 | 90 | 89 | 81 | 70 | 57 | 46 |
| Rain (in) | 1.6 | 1.8 | 3.0 | 4.5 | 6.1 | 5.6 | 4.3 | 3.7 | 4.4 | 3.4 | 2.9 | 2.1 |
January is the driest month (1.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 6.1 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Fort Scott →
Questions about parks and trails in Fort Scott
Where can I hike in Fort Scott?
The longest trail networks: Gunn Park, 4.8 miles; Ellis Park, 0.8 miles; Fort Scott National Historic Site, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Fort Scott is conserved land?
5% 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 Fort Scott’s trails?
Gunn Park and Ellis Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Fort Scott?
3.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.3 of off-road paths and 3.1 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Fort Scott?
324 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Fort Scott or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 229 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Fort Scott have?
Ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #7 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 Fort Scott 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 →