David H. Shepherd Park
Park
42 acres1.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Johnrozsa · CC BY-SA 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Oak Park
98% of residents live within a half mile of a park in Oak Park
The biggest trail networks: David H. Shepherd Park (1.6 mi). 113 acres are parks and preserves, 3.9 per 1,000 residents. 2.2 miles of mapped trail cross Oak Park, 0.4 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 55% of U.S. towns · #407 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
91 acres · of 5.1 sq mi of land
Trails
2.2 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
113 ac
3.9 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
98%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
4.9 mi
1.1 mi lanes · 2.6 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Oak Park?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Oak Park have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Oak Park is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns, #407 of 701 in Michigan. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Oak Park’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4BPark land3.9 acres of park per 1,000 residents (113 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13CParks close to home98% of residents within a half mile of a park · MI 50% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 55%
LessMore
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 42%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. 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 David H. Shepherd Park, with 1.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Charlotte M. Rothstein Park
Park
18 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 8 parks & preserves
David H. Shepherd Park42 acres · 1.6 mi of trail
DirectionsCharlotte M. Rothstein Park18 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
DirectionsKey Park7 acres
DirectionsBest Park6 acres
DirectionsTyler Park4 acres
DirectionsLessenger Park4 acres
DirectionsDewey Park3 acres
Nine Mile Linear Park2 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
91 conserved acres
3% of Oak Park’s land. Who manages Oak Park’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city91 ac
Local Park · 91 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| David H Shepherd Park Local Park | Town or city | 32 | Open |
| Tyler Park Local Park | Town or city | 14 | Open |
| Victoria Park Local Park | Town or city | 12 | Open |
| Key Park Local Park | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Lessenger Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Best Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Rothstein Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Dewey Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Jackson Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
Things to do
25 places to go in Oak Park
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Oak Park
24 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Oak Park
1 dog park without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Biking & sports
4.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.1 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
2.6 mi
off-road bike paths
1.2 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
11Baseball
9Tennis
5Basketball
2Football
2Soccer
1Pickleball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Oak Park: June, August and September
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) | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 32 | 35 | 45 | 58 | 70 | 80 | 84 | 82 | 75 | 62 | 48 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.2 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 3.8 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 2.1 |
February is the driest month (1.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 3.8 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Oak Park →
Next door
Oak Park and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Southfield25 miHuntington Woods2.3 miOak Park2.2 miFerndale0.6 miBerkley0.2 miRoyal Oak Township0.0 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Park | 3% | 0.4 | 4 | 98% | B |
| Ferndale | 4% | 0.2 | 5 | 99%+ | B |
| Southfield | 5% | 0.9 | 10 | 81% | B+ |
| Huntington Woods | 16% | 1.5 | 3 | 99%+ | A |
| Royal Oak Township | 3% | under 0.1 | 9 | 99%+ | B− |
| Berkley | 2% | 0.1 | 2 | 94% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Oak Park
Where can I hike in Oak Park?
The longest trail networks: David H. Shepherd Park, 1.6 miles; Charlotte M. Rothstein Park, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Oak Park is conserved land?
3% of its land, against a typical 5% for a Michigan town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Oak Park’s trails?
David H. Shepherd Park and Charlotte M. Rothstein Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Oak Park?
4.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.1 of painted or protected lanes, 2.6 of off-road paths and 1.2 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Oak Park?
11,674 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Oak Park or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 113 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Oak Park have?
Ahead of 55% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #407 of 701 in Michigan. 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 Oak Park 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 →