Osawatomie City Lakes
Managed by City of Osawatomie
253 acres4.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Osawatomie
Osawatomie has 322 acres of parks, 77 for every 1,000 residents
6.0 miles of mapped trail cross Osawatomie, 1.2 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Osawatomie City Lakes (4.4 mi), Karl E. Cole Sports Complex (0.6 mi). 85% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 80% of U.S. towns · #14 of 151 in Kansas. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
67 acres · of 5.2 sq mi of land
Trails
6.0 mi
1.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
322 ac
77 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
85%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.9 mi
0.9 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Osawatomie?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Osawatomie have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Osawatomie is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns, #14 of 151 in Kansas. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Osawatomie’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical KS town 2% · U.S. 4%C+Trails1.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (6 mi) · KS 0.2 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land77 acres of park per 1,000 residents (322 acres) · KS 13 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home85% 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 80%
LessMore
Kansas towns of 2,500+ (151)Ahead of 91%
Few Kansas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Osawatomie’s 2% is ahead of 50% of Kansas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 89% 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 Osawatomie City Lakes, with 4.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Karl E. Cole Sports Complex
Park
17 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailhead
John Brown Memorial Park
Park
19 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
67 conserved acres
2% of Osawatomie’s land. Who manages Osawatomie’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city67 ac
Local Park · 46 acLocal Recreation Area · 20 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Brown Memorial Park Local Park | Town or city | 45 | Open |
| Karl E Cole Sports Complex Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 19 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
Things to do
7 places to go in Osawatomie
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Osawatomie
6 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Osawatomie
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
2 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
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
5Baseball
4Tracks
2Tennis
2Basketball
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →6 places on the National Register
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.
When to get out
April is the best month for walking in Osawatomie
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 | 13.2 | 14.2 | 14.8 | 14.6 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 40 | 46 | 57 | 66 | 75 | 85 | 89 | 88 | 80 | 69 | 55 | 44 |
| Rain (in) | 1.2 | 1.6 | 2.5 | 4.1 | 5.7 | 5.4 | 4.1 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 3.3 | 2.3 | 1.8 |
January is the driest month (1.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 89 °F). 5.7 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 89 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Osawatomie →
Questions about parks and trails in Osawatomie
Where can I hike in Osawatomie?
The longest trail networks: Osawatomie City Lakes, 4.4 miles; Karl E. Cole Sports Complex, 0.6 miles; John Brown Memorial Park, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Osawatomie is conserved land?
2% 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 Osawatomie’s trails?
Osawatomie City Lakes and Karl E. Cole Sports Complex don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Osawatomie?
0.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.9 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Osawatomie?
5,203 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Osawatomie or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 322 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Osawatomie have?
Ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #14 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 Osawatomie 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 →