Wildwood Park
Park
4 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Acroterion · CC BY-SA 4.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Mount Airy
16% of Mount Airy’s land is conserved, and 99% of residents live within a half mile of a park
16% of Mount Airy’s land is conserved, about 428 acres. 309 acres are parks and preserves, 32 per 1,000 residents. 3.0 miles of mapped trail cross Mount Airy, 0.7 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 93% of U.S. towns · #25 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
Conserved land
16%
428 acres · of 4.1 sq mi of land
Trails
3.0 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
309 ac
32 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.7 mi
1.7 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Mount Airy?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Mount Airy have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Mount Airy is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns, #25 of 261 in Maryland. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park ranks highest, trail miles lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Mount Airy’s overall grade.
Conserved land16% of the land · typical MD town 9% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · MD 0.5 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land32 acres of park per 1,000 residents (309 acres) · MD 9 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home99% 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 93%
LessMore
Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 91%
Maryland towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 9%; the U.S., 4%), so Mount Airy’s 16% is ahead of 77% of Maryland towns, while its trails per square mile lead 62% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A 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 Wildwood Park, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Watkins Park
Park
45 acres0.1 mi of trail
Rails To Trails Path
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Larry Twenty Memorial Park
Park
12 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Summit Ridge Park
Park
6 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
All 8 parks & preserves
Wildwood Park4 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Watkins Park45 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsSummit Ridge Park6 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsProspect Park4 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsSterling Glen Park4 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · Sterling Glen HOA
Larry Twenty Memorial Park12 acres
Twin Arch Crossing Park5 acres · Town of Mount Airy
DirectionsEast West Park2 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
428 conserved acres
16% of Mount Airy’s land. Who manages Mount Airy’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County229 ac
Town or city173 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government149 ac
Not recorded68 ac
Local Park · 271 acConservation Easement · 144 acForest Stewardship Easement · 121 acLocal Other or Unknown · 61 acLocal Recreation Area · 22 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 110 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 54 of 123 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windy Ridge Park Local Park | Town or city | 93 | Open |
| Lp5014 Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 74 | Open |
| Mt. Airy MS Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 61 | Unknown |
| East West Park Local Park | Town or city | 28 | Open |
| Mount Airy Middle School Local Recreation Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 22 | Open |
| Village Gate Park- East Local Park | Town or city | 18 | Open |
| Watkins Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 17 | Open |
| Summit Ridge Park Local Park | Town or city | 13 | Open |
| Village Gate Park-West Local Park | Town or city | 12 | Open |
| Prospect Ave Park Local Park | Not recorded | 6 | Unknown |
2 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
15 places to go in Mount Airy
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Mount Airy
Jungle GymIn Prospect Park
DirectionsWatkins PlayplaceIn Watkins Park
DirectionsPlus 12 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Mount Airy
Watkins Dog ParkIn Watkins Park
DirectionsTrails & water
3 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 0.7 mi
Rails To Trails Path0.4 mi
Foot Path To Wastewater Plant0.1 mi
Path to Wastewater Plant0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
1.7 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.7 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
11Baseball
6Soccer
4Basketball
3Tennis
2Pickleball
1Lacrosse
1Multi-sport
1Skate park
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). The map also marks 2 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Mount Airy Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1984
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Mount Airy: April 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) | 40 | 44 | 52 | 64 | 73 | 81 | 85 | 83 | 76 | 66 | 54 | 44 |
| Rain (in) | 3.2 | 2.7 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 3.7 | 4.6 | 3.8 | 3.3 | 3.7 |
February is the driest month (2.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 4.6 inches fall in September, the wettest month. The climate in Mount Airy →
Questions about parks and trails in Mount Airy
Where can I hike in Mount Airy?
The longest trail networks: Wildwood Park, 0.3 miles; Watkins Park, 0.1 miles; Summit Ridge Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Mount Airy is conserved land?
16% 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 Mount Airy’s trails?
Wildwood Park and Watkins Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Mount Airy?
1.7 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.7 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Mount Airy?
7,639 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Mount Airy or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 309 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Mount Airy have?
Ahead of 93% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #25 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 Mount Airy 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 →