Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 4.04.4 miles of mapped trail cross Taylors Falls, 1.1 per square mile of land. 13% of Taylors Falls’ land is conserved, about 334 acres. The biggest trail networks: Interstate State Park (4.2 mi).
Ahead of 95% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Taylors Falls is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; park acres per resident rank highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
Water is 7% of Taylors Falls’ area (0 of 4 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 12%.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
The longest trail network is Interstate State Park, with 4.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
13% of Taylors Falls’ land. Water is left out: Taylors Falls has 4.0 square miles of land and 0.3 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Taylors Falls’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 59 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interstate State Park State Park | State parks | 271 | Open |
| Lower Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway Wild and Scenic River | National Park Service | 5 | Open |
| Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway Wild and Scenic River | National Park Service | 1 | Open |
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
2 boat launches without a name on the map.
1 fishing spot without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Plus 1 scenic view without a name on the map.
1 picnic area without a name on the map.
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.
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
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) | 23 | 28 | 41 | 56 | 69 | 78 | 82 | 80 | 71 | 57 | 41 | 28 |
| Rain (in) | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 2.7 | 4.0 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 3.0 | 1.7 | 1.2 |
January is the driest month (0.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Taylors Falls →
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taylors Falls | 13% | 1.1 | 243 | 90% | A+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
The longest trail networks: Interstate State Park, 4.2 miles; Taylors Falls Wayside Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
13% 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.
Interstate State Park and Taylors Falls Wayside Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
1.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.2 of off-road paths.
11,374 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Taylors Falls or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 290 of them inside the city line.
Ahead of 95% 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.
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Taylors Falls neighbors.
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 →