Memorial Park
Park
5 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Polka Dots and Pastries · CC BY 2.0C−Outdoors
Outdoors in Ponchatoula
Few parks or trails are on the map in Ponchatoula
0.1 miles of mapped trail cross Ponchatoula. 30 acres are parks and preserves, 3.8 per 1,000 residents. 50% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 17% of U.S. towns · #108 of 162 in Louisiana. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
29 acres · of 4.7 sq mi of land
Trails
0.1 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
30 ac
3.8 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
50%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.2 mi
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Ponchatoula have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Ponchatoula is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns, #108 of 162 in Louisiana. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park comes closest.
C−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Ponchatoula’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 land3.8 acres of park per 1,000 residents (30 acres) · LA 5 · U.S. 13CParks close to home50% of residents within a half mile of a park · LA 53% · U.S. 72%C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 17%
LessMore
Louisiana towns of 2,500+ (162)Ahead of 34%
Few Louisiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 1%; the U.S., 4%), so Ponchatoula’s 1% is ahead of 52% of Louisiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 19% of them.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Ponchatoula. 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 still be 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.
Jaycee Park
Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
29 conserved acres
1% of Ponchatoula’s land. Who manages Ponchatoula’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city29 ac
Local Park · 24 acLocal Recreation Area · 5 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tasker Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Kiwanis Park Local Park | Town or city | 7 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Unknown Ballfield Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Jaycee Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Ponchatoula
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Ponchatoula
Memorial Park PlaygroundIn Memorial Park
DirectionsBiking & sports
1.2 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.2 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
3Baseball
2Tennis
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 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
The best walking months in Ponchatoula: 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 | 85 | 90 | 92 | 92 | 88 | 81 | 71 | 64 |
| Rain (in) | 6.0 | 4.8 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 5.7 | 6.9 | 6.6 | 6.4 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 4.2 | 5.2 |
November is the driest month (4.2 in) and August the warmest (highs of 92 °F). 6.9 inches fall in June, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 92 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Ponchatoula →
Next door
Ponchatoula and its neighbors
Ponchatoula 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ponchatoula | 1% | under 0.1 | 4 | 50% | C− |
| Hammond | 1% | 0.4 | 6 | 51% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Ponchatoula
How much of Ponchatoula 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 Ponchatoula’s trails?
Memorial Park and Jaycee Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Ponchatoula?
1.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.2 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Ponchatoula?
380 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Ponchatoula or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 30 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Ponchatoula have?
Ahead of 17% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #108 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 Ponchatoula 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 →