Lanier Drive Park
Park
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
COutdoors
Outdoors in Merrydale
Merrydale has 33 acres of parks, 3.5 for every 1,000 residents
91% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.2 miles of mapped trail cross Merrydale. 1% of Merrydale’s land is conserved, about 33 acres.
Ahead of 30% of U.S. towns · #75 of 162 in Louisiana. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
33 acres · of 4.2 sq mi of land
Trails
0.2 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
33 ac
3.5 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
91%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Merrydale?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Merrydale have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Merrydale is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #75 of 162 in Louisiana. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Merrydale’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical LA town 1% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · LA 0.1 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land3.5 acres of park per 1,000 residents (33 acres) · LA 5 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home91% 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 54%
Few Louisiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 1%; the U.S., 4%), so Merrydale’s 1% is ahead of 57% of Louisiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 27% of them.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Merrydale. 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 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
33 conserved acres
1% of Merrydale’s land. Who manages Merrydale’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city33 ac
Local Park · 33 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maplewood Park Local Park | Town or city | 11 | Open |
| Brec Dover Street Park Local Park | Town or city | 10 | Open |
| Brec Rio Drive Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Lanier Drive Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | 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
3Basketball
2Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Merrydale: 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) | 10.4 | 11.1 | 11.9 | 12.9 | 13.7 | 14.1 | 13.9 | 13.2 | 12.3 | 11.4 | 10.6 | 10.2 |
| High (°F) | 62 | 66 | 73 | 79 | 86 | 90 | 92 | 92 | 88 | 81 | 71 | 64 |
| Rain (in) | 6.2 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 5.1 | 5.6 | 6.4 | 6.0 | 6.1 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 4.0 | 5.4 |
November is the driest month (4.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 92 °F). 6.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 92 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Merrydale →
Next door
Merrydale and its neighbors
Merrydale 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merrydale | 1% | under 0.1 | 3 | 91% | C |
| Baton Rouge | 3% | 0.3 | 9 | 80% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Merrydale
How much of Merrydale 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 Merrydale’s trails?
Lanier Drive Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Merrydale?
6,278 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Merrydale or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 33 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Merrydale have?
Ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #75 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 Merrydale 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 →