Granville Gude Park & Lakehouse
Park
25 acres0.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Adavidb at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Laurel
96% of residents live within a half mile of a park in Laurel
5.8 miles of mapped trail cross Laurel, 1.2 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Granville Gude Park & Lakehouse (0.9 mi). 151 acres are parks and preserves, 5.1 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 69% of U.S. towns · #131 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
108 acres · of 4.8 sq mi of land
Trails
5.8 mi
1.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
151 ac
5.1 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
96%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
4.4 mi
3.6 mi lanes
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Laurel?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Laurel have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Laurel is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns, #131 of 261 in Maryland. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Laurel’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical MD town 9% · U.S. 4%B−Trails1.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (6 mi) · MD 0.5 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land5.1 acres of park per 1,000 residents (151 acres) · MD 9 · U.S. 13CParks close to home96% of residents within a half mile of a park · MD 87% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 69%
LessMore
Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 50%
Maryland towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 9%; the U.S., 4%), so Laurel’s 4% is ahead of 17% of Maryland towns, while its trails per square mile lead 78% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A−. 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 Granville Gude Park & Lakehouse, with 0.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Alice B. McCullough Field
Park
8 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Riverfront Park
Park
31 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
All 12 parks & preserves
Granville Gude Park & Lakehouse25 acres · 0.9 mi of trail
DirectionsAlice B. McCullough Field8 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
DirectionsRiverfront Park31 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsCypress Park7 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsRoland B. Sweitzer Community Park6 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsLeo E. Wilson Community Park5 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsEmancipation Community Park2 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsCentennial Park1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Duniho-Nigh Community Park4 acres
DirectionsOakpointe Community Walking Trail3 acres
DirectionsDiscovery Park1 acres
Larry T. Smith Memorial Park1 acres
Who protects it
108 conserved acres
4% of Laurel’s land. Who manages Laurel’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Other or Unknown Local Government26 ac
Other state land5 ac
County2 ac
Not recorded75 ac
Local Park · 89 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 10 acHistoric or Cultural Easement · 5 acLocal Other or Unknown · 4 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 5 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 6 of 12 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laurel Lake Park Local Park | Not recorded | 29 | Unknown |
| Roland B. Sweitzer Park Local Park | Not recorded | 28 | Unknown |
| Patuxent River Rec. Complex Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 24 | Open |
| Cypress Street Field Park Local Park | Not recorded | 9 | Unknown |
| Alcie McCullough Emancip. Park Local Park | Not recorded | 8 | Unknown |
| Prince George's County Local Other or Unknown | County | 2 | Open |
| County Land Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 2 | Unknown |
| Putuxent River Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 1 | Open |
Things to do
39 places to go in Laurel
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Laurel
Discovery ParkIn Discovery Park
DirectionsOakpointe PlaygroundIn Oakpointe Community Walking Trail
DirectionsShore Playground
Directions39 playgrounds are on OpenStreetMap in all; the list shows named ones from the first 30.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
4.4 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
0.7 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
18Golf
15Tennis
9Basketball
8Baseball
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Laurel: 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 | 10.0 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 43 | 46 | 55 | 66 | 75 | 84 | 88 | 86 | 79 | 68 | 56 | 47 |
| Rain (in) | 3.0 | 2.7 | 3.9 | 3.5 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 4.2 | 4.4 | 4.0 | 3.2 | 3.7 |
February is the driest month (2.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 4.5 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Laurel →
Next door
Laurel 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laurel | 4% | 1.2 | 5 | 96% | B+ |
| Maryland City | 18% | 0.3 | 26 | 98% | A− |
| Konterra | 6% | 1.3 | 48 | 90% | A |
| South Laurel | 30% | 0.8 | 21 | 96% | A |
| North Laurel | 15% | 0.5 | 12 | 99%+ | A |
| West Laurel | 20% | 0.6 | 10 | 87% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Laurel
Where can I hike in Laurel?
The longest trail networks: Granville Gude Park & Lakehouse, 0.9 miles; Alice B. McCullough Field, 0.3 miles; Riverfront Park, 0.2 miles; Cypress Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Laurel is conserved land?
4% 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 Laurel’s trails?
Granville Gude Park & Lakehouse and Alice B. McCullough Field don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Laurel?
4.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.6 of painted or protected lanes and 0.7 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Laurel?
17,960 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Laurel or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 151 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Laurel have?
Ahead of 69% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #131 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 Laurel 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 →