Photo: Cecouchman · CC BY-SA 3.0Oakland has 5.9 miles of mapped trails, 2.2 for every square mile of land
78% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1% of Oakland’s land is conserved, about 24 acres. 24 acres are parks and preserves, 11 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 65% of U.S. towns. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Oakland?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Oakland have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Oakland is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
Maryland towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 9%; the U.S., 4%), so Oakland’s 1% is ahead of 5% of Maryland towns, while its trails per square mile lead 92% of them.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Pick a walk
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Mount Nebo Wildlife Management Area
24 conserved acres
1% of Oakland’s land. Who manages Oakland’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Glades Town Park Local Park | Town or city | 12 | Open |
| Mount Nebo Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 9 | Restricted |
5 places to go in Oakland
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
2 lakes & rivers
2.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
3 places 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.
The best walking months in Oakland: 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 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 35 | 39 | 47 | 60 | 69 | 76 | 79 | 78 | 72 | 61 | 49 | 39 |
| Rain (in) | 4.0 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 5.4 | 5.1 | 5.0 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 3.6 | 3.3 | 4.2 |
November is the driest month (3.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 79 °F). 5.4 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Oakland →
Oakland and its neighbors
Oakland has the 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland | 1% | 2.2 | 11 | 78% | B |
| Mountain Lake Park | 13% | 2.7 | 76 | 98% | A+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Oakland
How much of Oakland is conserved land?
1% 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 Oakland’s trails?
Glades Park and Mount Nebo Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Oakland?
2.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.0 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Oakland?
16,924 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Oakland or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 24 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Oakland have?
Ahead of 65% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Oakland neighbors.
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 →