Elwood Wildlife Area
Managed by Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks
9 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Wathena Fruit Growers' Association Building · Photo: Kristi Bender · CC BY-SA 3.0COutdoors
Outdoors in Wathena
Wathena has 18 acres of parks, 11 for every 1,000 residents
87% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1% of Wathena’s land is conserved, about 17 acres.
Ahead of 32% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
17 acres · of 2.3 sq mi of land
Trails
0.0 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
18 ac
11 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
87%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Wathena?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Wathena have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Wathena is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Wathena’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical KS town 2% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · KS 0.2 · U.S. 0.4DPark land11 acres of park per 1,000 residents (18 acres) · KS 13 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home87% 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 32%
LessMore
Few Kansas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Wathena’s 1% is ahead of 35% of Kansas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 3% of them.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Wathena. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
17 conserved acres
1% of Wathena’s land. Who manages Wathena’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city17 ac
Local Park · 11 acLocal Recreation Area · 6 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 11 | Open |
| Wathena City Swimming Pool Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 6 | Open |
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
2Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Wathena Fruit Growers' Association BuildingBuilding · listed 2009
About itWhen to get out
April is the best month for walking in Wathena
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 | 3.5 | 3.0 | 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 Wathena →
Next door
Wathena and its neighbors
Wathena 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wathena | 1% | under 0.1 | 11 | 87% | C |
| Elwood | 1% | 0.1 | 12 | 66% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Wathena
How much of Wathena 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 Wathena’s trails?
Elwood Wildlife Area doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Wathena?
2,792 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Wathena or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 18 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Wathena 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 Wathena 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 →