Photo: Kbh3rd · CC BY 4.0Few parks or trails are on the map in Houston
5 acres are parks and preserves, 2.2 per 1,000 residents. 37% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 9% of U.S. towns. What drives it
How much outdoors does Houston have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Houston is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park comes closest.
Few Missouri towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Houston’s under 1% is ahead of 11% of Missouri towns, while its trails per square mile lead 6% of them.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Pick a walk
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
8 conserved acres
under 1% of Houston’s land. Who manages Houston’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Twain National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 3 | Open |
| Boesl (L. A.) Outdoor Education Area State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 3 | Restricted |
| Houston Forestry Office State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 1 | Open |
1 places to go in Houston
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
0.0 miles of bike routes
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.
2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
June is the best month for walking in Houston
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) | 9.9 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 13.1 | 14.2 | 14.7 | 14.5 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.2 | 10.1 | 9.6 |
| High (°F) | 44 | 49 | 58 | 69 | 76 | 84 | 88 | 87 | 80 | 69 | 57 | 46 |
| Rain (in) | 2.7 | 2.7 | 4.1 | 4.7 | 5.4 | 4.2 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 2.8 |
January is the driest month (2.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 5.4 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Houston →
Questions about parks and trails in Houston
How much of Houston is conserved land?
under 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 Houston’s trails?
Emmet Kelly Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Houston?
5,533 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Houston or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 9 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Houston have?
Ahead of 9% 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 Houston neighbors.
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 →