Philip Guettler House · Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 3.0Cologne has 36 acres of parks, 16 for every 1,000 residents
2.1 miles of mapped trail cross Cologne, 1.2 per square mile of land. 93% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 59% of U.S. towns. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Cologne?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Cologne have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Cologne is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
Water is 6% of Cologne’s area (0 of 2 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read under 1%.
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
The longest trail network is City Square Park, with 0.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Marion Fields
All 6 parks & preserves
6 places to go in Cologne
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
6 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
2 lakes & rivers
2.1 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 walking year in Cologne
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) | 9.2 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 22 | 28 | 41 | 56 | 69 | 78 | 82 | 80 | 72 | 58 | 41 | 28 |
| Rain (in) | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 3.0 | 4.2 | 5.0 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 3.3 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 1.1 |
January is the driest month (0.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 5.0 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Cologne →
Questions about parks and trails in Cologne
Where can I hike in Cologne?
The longest trail networks: City Square Park, 0.1 miles; Village Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Cologne is conserved land?
under 1% of its land, against a typical 5% for a Minnesota town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Cologne’s trails?
City Square Park and Village Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Cologne?
2.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.1 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Cologne?
9,563 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Cologne or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 36 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Cologne have?
Ahead of 59% 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 Cologne 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 →