Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Norris-Stirling House · Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 3.020% of Pleasant Hills’ land is conserved, about 572 acres. 468 acres are parks and preserves, 122 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Gunpowder Falls State Park Jerusalem Mill Area (8.4 mi).
Ahead of 89% of U.S. towns · #42 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Pleasant Hills is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns, #42 of 261 in Maryland. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
Maryland towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 9%; the U.S., 4%), so Pleasant Hills’ 20% is ahead of 88% of Maryland towns, while its trails per square mile lead 93% of them.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
The longest trail network is Gunpowder Falls State Park Jerusalem Mill Area, with 8.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
20% of Pleasant Hills’ land. Who manages Pleasant Hills’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 109 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 14 of 35 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gunpowder Falls Sp State Park | Not recorded | 440 | Unknown |
| Reckord Road Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 24 | Open |
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
1 peak without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
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.
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) | 42 | 45 | 53 | 66 | 75 | 84 | 88 | 86 | 79 | 68 | 56 | 46 |
| Rain (in) | 3.2 | 2.7 | 4.3 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 4.3 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 4.7 | 4.0 | 3.4 | 3.9 |
February is the driest month (2.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 4.7 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Pleasant Hills →
Pleasant Hills 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pleasant Hills | 20% | 2.2 | 122 | 37% | A |
| Kingsville | 20% | 1.5 | 234 | 62% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
The longest trail networks: Gunpowder Falls State Park Jerusalem Mill Area, 8.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
20% 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.
Gunpowder Falls State Park Jerusalem Mill Area and Reckord Road Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
18,000 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Pleasant Hills or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 468 of them inside the town line.
Ahead of 89% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #42 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.
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Pleasant Hills neighbors.
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 →