My Old Kentucky Home State Park
Park
233 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Kurtz Restaurant and Bardstown-Parkview Motel-Office · Photo: Kybluegrass · CC BY-SA 3.0C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Bardstown
Bardstown has 364 acres of parks, 26 for every 1,000 residents
0.3 miles of mapped trail cross Bardstown. 5% of Bardstown’s land is conserved, about 356 acres. 53% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 44% of U.S. towns · #55 of 142 in Kentucky. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
356 acres · of 12.1 sq mi of land
Trails
0.3 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
364 ac
26 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
53%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Bardstown?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Bardstown have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Bardstown is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #55 of 142 in Kentucky. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Bardstown’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical KY town 2% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · KY 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land26 acres of park per 1,000 residents (364 acres) · KY 8 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home53% of residents within a half mile of a park · KY 59% · U.S. 72%C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 44%
LessMore
Kentucky towns of 2,500+ (142)Ahead of 62%
Few Kentucky towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Bardstown’s 5% is ahead of 85% of Kentucky towns, while its trails per square mile lead 18% of 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.
Dean Watts Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
356 conserved acres
5% of Bardstown’s land. Who manages Bardstown’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State parks285 ac
Town or city57 ac
Joint13 ac
State conservation13 ac
State Park · 285 acLocal Park · 57 acLocal Historic or Cultural Area · 13 acUnknown Easement · 13 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| My Old Kentucky Home State Park State Park | State parks | 285 | Open |
| Bardstown Community Park Local Park | Town or city | 42 | Open |
| City Park Local Park | Town or city | 15 | Open |
| Town Creek Greenway Local Historic or Cultural Area | Joint | 13 | Open |
Things to do
7 places to go in Bardstown
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Bardstown
5 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Peaks in Bardstown
Federal Hill
DirectionsCampgrounds in Bardstown
1 campground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Cobblestone Path0.1 mi
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
11Tennis
8Baseball
4Soccer
4Football
2Pickleball
1Skate park
1Beach volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →27 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.
My Old Kentucky HomeBuilding · listed 1971
About itWicklandBuilding · listed 1973
About itSpalding Hall, St. Joseph's CollegeBuilding · listed 1973
About itOld Talbott TavernBuilding · listed 1973
About itSt. Joseph Proto CathedralBuilding · listed 1974
About itEdgewoodBuilding · listed 1975
About itBruntwoodBuilding · listed 1975
About itSt. Joseph Cathedral and College ComplexDistrict · listed 1976
About itSt. Thomas Roman Catholic Church and Howard-Flaget HouseBuilding · listed 1976
About itBen Johnson HouseBuilding · listed 1979
About itBardstown Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1983
About itStone House on Buffalo CreekBuilding · listed 1983
About it15 more on the History page.
When to get out
The walking year in Bardstown
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) | 43 | 47 | 57 | 68 | 76 | 84 | 87 | 86 | 81 | 69 | 57 | 46 |
| Rain (in) | 3.6 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 5.4 | 5.1 | 4.7 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 4.3 |
August is the driest month (3.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 5.4 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Bardstown →
Questions about parks and trails in Bardstown
How much of Bardstown is conserved land?
5% of its land, against a typical 2% for a Kentucky town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Bardstown’s trails?
My Old Kentucky Home State Park and Bardstown Community Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Bardstown?
3,141 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Bardstown or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 364 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Bardstown have?
Ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #55 of 142 in Kentucky. 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 Bardstown 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 →