Caves Valley Land Trust
Managed by Maryland Environmental Trust
13 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Wester Ogle · Photo: Pubdog at en.wikipedia · Public domainDOutdoors
Outdoors in Garrison
5% of Garrison’s land is conserved: 111 acres
12% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.1 miles of mapped trail cross Garrison.
Ahead of 14% of U.S. towns · #257 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
111 acres · of 3.2 sq mi of land
Trails
0.1 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Near a park
12%
of residents within ½ mile
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Garrison have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Garrison is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns, #257 of 261 in Maryland. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
D
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Garrison’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical MD town 9% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · MD 0.5 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land0.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (0 acres) · MD 9 · U.S. 13DParks close to home12% of residents within a half mile of a park · MD 87% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 14%
LessMore
Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 2%
Maryland towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 9%; the U.S., 4%), so Garrison’s 5% is ahead of 28% of Maryland towns, while its trails per square mile lead 6% of them.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Garrison. 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 D 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
111 conserved acres
5% of Garrison’s land. Who manages Garrison’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources70 ac
Joint62 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government7 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits2 ac
County1 ac
Not recorded37 ac
Unknown Easement · 72 acConservation Easement · 71 acLocal Other or Unknown · 23 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 14 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 74 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 15 of 21 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 22 | Unknown |
| Drainage And Utility Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 15 | Unknown |
Things to do
8 places to go in Garrison
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Garrison
8 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
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
21Tennis
11Golf
2Baseball
2Pickleball
1Basketball
1Softball
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).
Wester OgleBuilding · listed 1985
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Garrison: April to June and August
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) | 9.7 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 41 | 45 | 53 | 66 | 75 | 83 | 87 | 85 | 78 | 67 | 55 | 46 |
| Rain (in) | 3.2 | 2.9 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 4.2 | 4.7 | 4.4 | 3.7 | 3.8 |
February is the driest month (2.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 4.7 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Garrison →
Next door
Garrison and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garrison | 5% | under 0.1 | under 1 | 12% | D |
| Pikesville | 7% | 0.6 | 1 | 49% | C+ |
| Owings Mills | 9% | 0.5 | 3 | 72% | B |
| Randallstown | 6% | 0.2 | 4 | 77% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Garrison
How much of Garrison is conserved land?
5% of its land, against a typical 9% for a Maryland town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Garrison’s trails?
Caves Valley Land Trust doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Garrison?
10,940 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Garrison or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), almost none of it inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Garrison have?
Ahead of 14% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #257 of 261 in Maryland. 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 Garrison 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 →