Butterfly Park
Park
30 acres0.9 mi of trail
Butterfly Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Rowen Hansen · CC BY-SA 4.0C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Grain Valley
Grain Valley has 148 acres of parks, 9.1 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Butterfly Park (0.9 mi). 82% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.9 miles of mapped trail cross Grain Valley, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 43% of U.S. towns · #144 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
83 acres · of 6.2 sq mi of land
Trails
0.9 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
148 ac
9.1 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
82%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
4.3 mi
0.7 mi lanes · 3.6 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Grain Valley?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Grain Valley have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Grain Valley is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns, #144 of 247 in Missouri. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Grain Valley’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical MO town 2% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · MO 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land9.1 acres of park per 1,000 residents (148 acres) · MO 11 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home82% of residents within a half mile of a park · MO 74% · U.S. 72%B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 43%
LessMore
Missouri towns of 2,500+ (247)Ahead of 42%
Few Missouri towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Grain Valley’s 2% is ahead of 52% of Missouri towns, while its trails per square mile lead 35% of them.
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
The longest trail network is Butterfly Park, with 0.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Farmington Meadow Park
Park
8 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto Blue Branch Creek Trail parking
All 6 parks & preserves
Butterfly Park30 acres · 0.9 mi of trail
DirectionsArmstrong Park15 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsCross Creek Park57 acres
DirectionsFarmington Meadow Park8 acres
DirectionsWolf Creek Park5 acres
Rosewood Community Park1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
83 conserved acres
2% of Grain Valley’s land. Who manages Grain Valley’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city50 ac
Private owners31 ac
County1 ac
Local Park · 81 acLocal Conservation Area · 1 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cross Creek Nature Park Local Park | Private owners | 31 | Open |
| Gray Stone Park Local Park | Town or city | 25 | Open |
| Armstrong Park Local Park | Town or city | 18 | Open |
| Farmington Meadows Park Local Park | Town or city | 7 | Open |
| William L Landahl Park Reserve Local Conservation Area | County | 1 | Open |
Things to do
14 places to go in Grain Valley
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Grain Valley
12 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Campgrounds in Grain Valley
Trailside RV Park & Propane
DirectionsCommunity gardens in Grain Valley
Grain Valley Community GardenCity of Grain Valley
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Butterfly Trail0.8 mi
Biking & sports
4.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.7 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
3.6 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
10Tennis
3Football
3Baseball
1Soccer
1Softball
1Skate park
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
April is the best month for walking in Grain Valley
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) | 9.7 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 14.6 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 38 | 44 | 55 | 65 | 75 | 84 | 88 | 86 | 79 | 68 | 54 | 42 |
| Rain (in) | 1.3 | 1.7 | 2.6 | 4.3 | 5.6 | 5.1 | 4.8 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 2.3 | 1.9 |
January is the driest month (1.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 5.6 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Grain Valley →
Next door
Grain Valley and its neighbors
Grain Valley has the second most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grain Valley | 2% | 0.1 | 9 | 82% | C+ |
| Blue Springs | 9% | 1.4 | 13 | 84% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Grain Valley
Where can I hike in Grain Valley?
The longest trail networks: Butterfly Park, 0.9 miles; Armstrong Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Grain Valley is conserved land?
2% of its land, against a typical 2% for a Missouri town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Grain Valley’s trails?
Butterfly Park and Cross Creek Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Grain Valley?
4.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.7 of painted or protected lanes and 3.6 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Grain Valley?
15,307 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Grain Valley or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 148 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Grain Valley have?
Ahead of 43% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #144 of 247 in Missouri. 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 Grain Valley 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 →