Hays Medical Center Walking Trail
Managed by Hays Medical Center
26 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Drees House · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Hays
96% of residents live within a half mile of a park in Hays
The biggest trail networks: Hays Medical Center Walking Trail (0.7 mi). 6.1 miles of mapped trail cross Hays, 0.7 per square mile of land. 224 acres are parks and preserves, 11 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 70% of U.S. towns · #34 of 151 in Kansas. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
178 acres · of 8.7 sq mi of land
Trails
6.1 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
224 ac
11 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
96%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.9 mi
2.9 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Hays?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Hays have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Hays is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns, #34 of 151 in Kansas. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Hays’ overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical KS town 2% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (6 mi) · KS 0.2 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land11 acres of park per 1,000 residents (224 acres) · KS 13 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home96% 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 70%
LessMore
Kansas towns of 2,500+ (151)Ahead of 78%
Few Kansas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Hays’ 3% is ahead of 69% of Kansas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 79% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B 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 Hays Medical Center Walking Trail, with 0.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Frontier Historical Park
Park
51 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 23 parks & preserves
Hays Medical Center Walking Trail26 acres · 0.7 mi of trail · Hays Medical Center
DirectionsFrontier Historical Park51 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
DirectionsDaniel G. Rupp Park5 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsAubel Bickle Park16 acres
DirectionsDusty Glassman Ballfields11 acres
DirectionsSunrise Park10 acres
DirectionsPratt Optimist Soccer Fields9 acres
DirectionsKiwanis Park8 acres
DirectionsHank Speier Ball Park7 acres
Rolling Hills Park6 acres
Seven Hills Optimist Park5 acres
DirectionsLark's Park5 acres
DirectionsMunicipal Park5 acres
DirectionsHickok Park4 acres
DirectionsEkey Park4 acres
DirectionsMassey Park3 acres
DirectionsBlue Star Memorial Highway Park2 acres
DirectionsVeterans Memorial Park2 acres
DirectionsDr. Howard Reynolds Nature Trails1 acres
DirectionsElizabeth Polly Park1 acres
DirectionsUnion Pacific Park1 acres
DirectionsWhisnant Park1 acres
Kings Gate Park1 acres
Who protects it
178 conserved acres
3% of Hays’ land. Who manages Hays’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city120 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits58 ac
Local Park · 136 acLocal Recreation Area · 41 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frontier Historical Park Local Park | Land trusts & nonprofits | 48 | Open |
| Frank Stramel Baseball Fields Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 18 | Open |
| Aubel Bickle Park Local Park | Town or city | 16 | Open |
| Larks & Hays Municipal Park Local Park | Town or city | 14 | Open |
| Kiwanis Park Local Park | Town or city | 11 | Open |
| Dusty Glassman Ballfields Local Recreation Area | Land trusts & nonprofits | 10 | Open |
| Sunrise Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Pratt Optimist Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Daniel G. Rupp Park Local Park | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Speier Ballpark Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 8 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
24 places to go in Hays
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Hays
Sonic Playground
DirectionsPlus 23 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
2.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.9 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
30Baseball
15Basketball
14Tennis
5Beach volleyball
4Football
3Soccer
2Pickleball
1Volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →9 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Fort HaysBuilding · listed 1971
About itFirst Presbyterian ChurchBuilding · listed 1973
About itPhillip Hardware StoreBuilding · listed 1982
About itDrees HouseBuilding · listed 2001
About itJustus Bissing, Jr. Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2004
About itSt. Joseph's Church and Parochial SchoolBuilding · listed 2008
About itJ.A. Mermis HouseBuilding · listed 2009
About itChestnut Street Historic DistrictBuilding · listed 2011
About itWashington Grade SchoolBuilding · listed 2021
About itWhen to get out
April is the best month for walking in Hays
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) | 43 | 47 | 58 | 67 | 77 | 88 | 93 | 90 | 83 | 70 | 56 | 44 |
| Rain (in) | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 2.2 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 3.5 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.8 |
January is the driest month (0.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 93 °F). 3.9 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 93 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Hays →
Next door
Hays and its neighbors
Hays 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hays | 3% | 0.7 | 11 | 96% | B+ |
| Big Creek Township | under 1% | 0.1 | 117 | 25% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Hays
Where can I hike in Hays?
The longest trail networks: Hays Medical Center Walking Trail, 0.7 miles; Frontier Historical Park, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Hays 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 Hays’ trails?
Hays Medical Center Walking Trail and Frontier Historical Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Hays?
2.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.9 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Hays?
532 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Hays or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 224 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Hays have?
Ahead of 70% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #34 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 Hays 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 →