KPEX aiport boundary
Park
38 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Paynesville
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Paynesville
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 1.6 miles of mapped trail cross Paynesville, 0.7 per square mile of land. 72 acres are parks and preserves, 28 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 67% of U.S. towns · #164 of 274 in Minnesota. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
0 acres · of 2.3 sq mi of land
Trails
1.6 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
72 ac
28 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.2 mi
1.2 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Paynesville?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Paynesville have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Paynesville is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns, #164 of 274 in Minnesota. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Paynesville’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical MN town 5% · U.S. 4%DTrails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · MN 0.5 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land28 acres of park per 1,000 residents (72 acres) · MN 24 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · MN 95% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 67%
LessMore
Minnesota towns of 2,500+ (274)Ahead of 40%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B− 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
Places to walk
Pick a walk
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Ampe Park
Park
15 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Nature Trail Park
Park
8 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Community Park
Park
6 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 6 parks & preserves
KPEX aiport boundary38 acres
Ampe Park15 acres
Nature Trail Park8 acres
Community Park6 acres
Gazebo Park2 acres
Dog Park1 acres
Things to do
3 places to go in Paynesville
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Dog parks in Paynesville
2 dog parks without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Community gardens in Paynesville
1 community garden without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 1.2 mi
Lake Koronis Recreational Trail1.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
1.2 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.2 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
6Baseball
2Softball
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The walking year in Paynesville
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) | 9.1 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 14.9 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 8.7 |
| High (°F) | 21 | 26 | 39 | 54 | 68 | 77 | 81 | 79 | 71 | 57 | 39 | 26 |
| Rain (in) | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 2.6 | 3.5 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 3.9 | 3.0 | 2.5 | 1.3 | 0.9 |
January is the driest month (0.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 4.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Paynesville →
Questions about parks and trails in Paynesville
How much of Paynesville 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 Paynesville’s trails?
KPEX aiport boundary and Ampe Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Paynesville?
1.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.2 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Paynesville?
308 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Paynesville or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 72 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Paynesville have?
Ahead of 67% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #164 of 274 in Minnesota. 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 Paynesville 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 →