Alexandria Zoological Park
Park
25 acres1.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0COutdoors
Outdoors in Alexandria
Alexandria has 9.2 miles of mapped trails, 0.3 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Alexandria Zoological Park (1.2 mi), Compton Park (0.8 mi). 186 acres are parks and preserves, 4.2 per 1,000 residents. 57% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 30% of U.S. towns · #74 of 162 in Louisiana. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
144 acres · of 28.5 sq mi of land
Trails
9.2 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
186 ac
4.2 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
57%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
9.9 mi
3.6 mi lanes · 3.5 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
9
What kind of outdoors town is Alexandria?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Alexandria have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Alexandria is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #74 of 162 in Louisiana. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Alexandria’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical LA town 1% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (9 mi) · LA 0.1 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land4.2 acres of park per 1,000 residents (186 acres) · LA 5 · U.S. 13CParks close to home57% of residents within a half mile of a park · LA 53% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 30%
LessMore
Louisiana towns of 2,500+ (162)Ahead of 55%
Few Louisiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 1%; the U.S., 4%), so Alexandria’s 1% is ahead of 46% of Louisiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 72% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. 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 Alexandria Zoological Park, with 1.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
All 8 parks & preserves
Alexandria Zoological Park25 acres · 1.2 mi of trail
DirectionsCompton Park25 acres · 0.8 mi of trail
DirectionsCheatham Park4 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
DirectionsCity of Alexandria River Front Park8 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Hunter Park22 acres
DirectionsAlexandria City Park5 acres
DirectionsSt Fracis Cabrini Walking Trail and Park2 acres
DirectionsAlexander Fulton Park1 acres
Who protects it
144 conserved acres
1% of Alexandria’s land. Who manages Alexandria’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city140 ac
State parks4 ac
Local Park · 121 acLocal Recreation Area · 19 acState Historic or Cultural Area · 4 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compton Park Local Park | Town or city | 25 | Open |
| Frank O Hunter Park Local Park | Town or city | 22 | Open |
| Mpat Local Park | Town or city | 20 | Open |
| Cheatham Park Local Park | Town or city | 17 | Open |
| Youth Baseball Complex Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 12 | Open |
| Acadian (West) Sandy Bayou Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Hdq Unity Park Local Park | Town or city | 7 | Open |
| Big Island Field Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 7 | Open |
| City Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Wycliffe Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
5 places to go in Alexandria
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Alexandria
5 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 9 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Levee Pk1.8 mi
Biking & sports
9.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
3.6 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
3.5 mi
off-road bike paths
2.8 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
36Baseball
30Tennis
9Basketball
7Soccer
5Football
2Softball
2Pickleball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →38 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.
Kent Plantation HouseBuilding · listed 1971
About itBailey's Dam SiteSite · listed 1976
About itCommercial BuildingBuilding · listed 1978
About itBennett Plantation HouseBuilding · listed 1979
About itBentley HotelBuilding · listed 1979
About itCook HouseBuilding · listed 1979
About itJames Wade Bolton HouseBuilding · listed 1979
About itRapides Bank and Trust Company BuildingBuilding · listed 1980
About itFirst Methodist ChurchBuilding · listed 1980
About itSt. Francis Xavier CathedralBuilding · listed 1980
About itFort RandolphSite · listed 1981
About itRapides Opera HouseBuilding · listed 1981
About it26 more on the History page.
When to get out
The best walking months in Alexandria: April and May
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) | 10.3 | 11.0 | 11.9 | 12.9 | 13.7 | 14.2 | 14.0 | 13.3 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.5 | 10.1 |
| High (°F) | 60 | 64 | 72 | 78 | 85 | 90 | 93 | 93 | 89 | 80 | 70 | 62 |
| Rain (in) | 5.9 | 5.1 | 5.0 | 5.2 | 4.7 | 4.9 | 4.6 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.7 | 5.2 | 5.8 |
August is the driest month (4.1 in) and the warmest (highs of 93 °F). 5.9 inches fall in January, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 93 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Alexandria →
Next door
Alexandria and its neighbors
Alexandria has the 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandria | 1% | 0.3 | 4 | 57% | C |
| Pineville | under 1% | 0.1 | 4 | 25% | D |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Alexandria
Where can I hike in Alexandria?
The longest trail networks: Alexandria Zoological Park, 1.2 miles; Compton Park, 0.8 miles; Cheatham Park, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Alexandria is conserved land?
1% of its land, against a typical 1% for a Louisiana town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Alexandria’s trails?
Alexandria Zoological Park and Compton Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Alexandria?
9.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.6 of painted or protected lanes, 3.5 of off-road paths and 2.8 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Alexandria?
64,141 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Alexandria or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 186 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Alexandria have?
Ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #74 of 162 in Louisiana. 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 Alexandria 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 →