Barre Field
Park
11 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Reading
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Reading
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 1% of Reading’s land is conserved, about 9 acres. 13 acres are parks and preserves, 14 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 44% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
9 acres · of 1.0 sq mi of land
Trails
0.0 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
13 ac
14 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Reading?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Reading have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Reading is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Reading’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical MI town 5% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · MI 0.3 · U.S. 0.4DPark land14 acres of park per 1,000 residents (13 acres) · MI 33 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · MI 50% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 44%
LessMore
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
9 conserved acres
1% of Reading’s land. Who manages Reading’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city9 ac
Local Park · 9 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barre Field Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Reading
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Reading
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
2Baseball
2Football
2Basketball
1Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Reading: July to 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) | 9.5 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 34 | 45 | 58 | 69 | 79 | 82 | 80 | 74 | 61 | 47 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 2.5 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.0 | 2.4 |
February is the driest month (2.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.3 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Reading →
Questions about parks and trails in Reading
How much of Reading is conserved land?
1% 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 Reading’s trails?
Barre Field and Water Works Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Reading?
1,488 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Reading or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 13 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Reading have?
Ahead of 44% 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 Reading 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 →