Antioch Park
Managed by Johnson County Park and Recreation District
45 acres1.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Loomis Historic District · Photo: Dlong417 · CC BY-SA 3.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Merriam
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Merriam
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Antioch Park (1.1 mi), AdventHealth Shawnee Mission Medical Center Par Course (0.7 mi). 2.4 miles of mapped trail cross Merriam, 0.6 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 80% of U.S. towns · #17 of 151 in Kansas. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
132 acres · of 4.3 sq mi of land
Trails
2.4 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
161 ac
15 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
12 mi
0.7 mi lanes · 6.5 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
3
What kind of outdoors town is Merriam?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Merriam have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Merriam is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns, #17 of 151 in Kansas. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park ranks highest, park acres per resident lowest.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Merriam’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical KS town 2% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · KS 0.2 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land15 acres of park per 1,000 residents (161 acres) · KS 13 · U.S. 13BParks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · KS 76% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 80%
LessMore
Kansas towns of 2,500+ (151)Ahead of 89%
Few Kansas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Merriam’s 5% is ahead of 85% of Kansas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 73% 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 Antioch Park, with 1.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
AdventHealth Shawnee Mission Medical Center Par Course
Park
4 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Quail Creek Park
Park
8 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 9 parks & preserves
Antioch Park45 acres · 1.1 mi of trail · Johnson County Park and Recreation District
DirectionsAdventHealth Shawnee Mission Medical Center Par Course4 acres · 0.7 mi of trail
Quail Creek Park8 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Robinson Park1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Werner Park16 acres
DirectionsWaterfall Park14 acres
DirectionsChatlain Park9 acres
DirectionsBrown Memorial Park9 acres
DirectionsCampbell Park3 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
132 conserved acres
5% of Merriam’s land. Who manages Merriam’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city89 ac
County43 ac
Local Park · 132 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turkey Creek Streamway Local Park | Town or city | 44 | Open |
| Antioch Local Park | County | 43 | Open |
| Waterfall Local Park | Town or city | 16 | Open |
| Quail Creek Local Park | Town or city | 7 | Open |
| Vavra Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Chatlain Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Brown Memorial Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Campbell Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Werner Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
Things to do
39 places to go in Merriam
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Merriam
Merriam Public Pool
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Merriam
36 playgrounds are on OpenStreetMap in all; the list shows named ones from the first 30.
Waterfalls in Merriam
Turkey Creek FallsIn Waterfall Park
DirectionsScenic views in Merriam
Natural AreaIn Antioch Park
DirectionsTrails & water
3 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
12 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.7 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
6.5 mi
off-road bike paths
5.0 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
8Tennis
6Soccer
4Basketball
3Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 3 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
April is the best month for walking in Merriam
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 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 39 | 44 | 55 | 66 | 75 | 84 | 88 | 87 | 79 | 67 | 54 | 43 |
| Rain (in) | 1.2 | 1.5 | 2.4 | 4.0 | 5.5 | 5.2 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 3.9 | 3.3 | 2.2 | 1.6 |
January is the driest month (1.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 5.5 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Merriam →
Next door
Merriam 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merriam | 5% | 0.6 | 15 | 99%+ | A− |
| Overland Park | 5% | 0.6 | 13 | 93% | B+ |
| Shawnee | 9% | 1.1 | 40 | 84% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Merriam
Where can I hike in Merriam?
The longest trail networks: Antioch Park, 1.1 miles; AdventHealth Shawnee Mission Medical Center Par Course, 0.7 miles; Quail Creek Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Merriam 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 Merriam’s trails?
Antioch Park and AdventHealth Shawnee Mission Medical Center Par Course don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Merriam?
12 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.7 of painted or protected lanes, 6.5 of off-road paths and 5.0 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Merriam?
16,811 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Merriam or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 161 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Merriam have?
Ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #17 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 Merriam 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 →