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B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Medford

Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Medford

Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 0.6 miles of mapped trail cross Medford, 0.5 per square mile of land. 14 acres are parks and preserves, 11 per 1,000 residents.

Ahead of 54% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Conserved land
under 1%
0 acres · of 1.2 sq mi of land
Trails
0.6 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
14 ac
11 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.3 mi
0.3 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1

What kind of outdoors town is Medford?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Medford have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Medford is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.

B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Medford’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 54%
LessMore
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Medford. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C to A−. 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
Things to do

6 places to go in Medford

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Dog parks in Medford
Dog Exercise Area (Leashed)
Directions
Trails & water

1 lakes & rivers

Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports

0.3 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

0.3 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
5Baseball
2Tennis
2Beach volleyball
1Basketball
1Football
1Soccer

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

When to get out

The walking year in Medford

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.210.411.813.414.715.515.214.012.410.99.58.9
High (°F)232740566878817972584128
Rain (in)0.91.01.93.34.55.54.64.83.72.61.71.2

January is the driest month (0.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 5.5 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Medford →

Questions about parks and trails in Medford

How much of Medford 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.

Where can I bike in Medford?

0.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.3 of off-road paths.

Is there public land near Medford?

2,391 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Medford or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 14 of them inside the city line.

How much outdoors does Medford have?

Ahead of 54% 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 Medford neighbors.

Town Square →
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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 →