Shaw Nature Reserve
Nature preserve
23 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto Grey Summit Commuter Lot
Bethel Church · Photo: Jon Roanhaus · CC BY-SA 3.0C−Outdoors
Outdoors in Gray Summit
Few parks or trails are on the map in Gray Summit
24% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.8 miles of mapped trail cross Gray Summit, 0.1 per square mile of land. 27 acres are parks and preserves, 8.9 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 19% of U.S. towns · #215 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
23 acres · of 7.7 sq mi of land
Trails
0.8 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
27 ac
8.9 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
24%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Gray Summit have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Gray Summit is ahead of 19% of U.S. towns, #215 of 247 in Missouri. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; park acres per resident come closest.
C−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Gray Summit’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% 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. 0.4CPark land8.9 acres of park per 1,000 residents (27 acres) · MO 11 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home24% of residents within a half mile of a park · MO 74% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 19%
LessMore
Missouri towns of 2,500+ (247)Ahead of 13%
Few Missouri towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Gray Summit’s 1% is ahead of 17% of Missouri towns, while its trails per square mile lead 27% of them.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Gray Summit. 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 still be C−. 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.
Who protects it
23 conserved acres
1% of Gray Summit’s land. Who manages Gray Summit’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits23 ac
Local Conservation Area · 23 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobot Shaw Nature Preserve Local Conservation Area | Land trusts & nonprofits | 23 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Gray Summit
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Gray Summit
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
When to get out
The walking year in Gray Summit
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) | 9.8 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.2 | 14.8 | 14.6 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 41 | 46 | 57 | 68 | 76 | 85 | 89 | 87 | 80 | 69 | 56 | 45 |
| Rain (in) | 2.6 | 2.3 | 3.6 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 2.7 |
February is the driest month (2.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 89 °F). 4.8 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 89 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Gray Summit →
Next door
Gray Summit and its neighbors
Gray Summit has the 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gray Summit | 1% | 0.1 | 9 | 24% | C− |
| Pacific | 1% | 0.1 | 11 | 41% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Gray Summit
How much of Gray Summit is conserved land?
1% 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 Gray Summit’s trails?
Shaw Nature Reserve doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Gray Summit?
11,079 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Gray Summit or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 27 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Gray Summit have?
Ahead of 19% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #215 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 Gray Summit 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 →