Klaus Park
Managed by Cape Girardeau County, Missouri
31 acres4.3 mi of trail
Klaus Park Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Jackson Uptown Commercial Historic District · Photo: Zzyxzaa26 · CC0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Jackson
Jackson has 21 miles of mapped trails, 1.9 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Klaus Park (4.3 mi), Brookside Park (0.8 mi). 47% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 2% of Jackson’s land is conserved, about 160 acres.
Ahead of 59% of U.S. towns · #79 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
160 acres · of 10.8 sq mi of land
Trails
21 mi
1.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
178 ac
11 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
47%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.0 mi
1.0 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Jackson?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Jackson have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Jackson is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns, #79 of 247 in Missouri. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Jackson’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical MO town 2% · U.S. 4%C+Trails1.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (21 mi) · MO 0.3 · U.S. 0.4APark land11 acres of park per 1,000 residents (178 acres) · MO 11 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home47% 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 59%
LessMore
Missouri towns of 2,500+ (247)Ahead of 68%
Few Missouri towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Jackson’s 2% is ahead of 59% of Missouri towns, while its trails per square mile lead 98% 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 Klaus Park, with 4.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Jackson Walking Path
Managed by City of Jackson
7 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Litz Park
Park
37 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
160 conserved acres
2% of Jackson’s land. Who manages Jackson’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city129 ac
County31 ac
Local Park · 109 acLocal Recreation Area · 51 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Litz Park Local Park | Town or city | 41 | Open |
| Brookside Park Local Park | Town or city | 36 | Open |
| Klaus Park Local Park | County | 31 | Open |
| Jackson Football Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 27 | Open |
| Jackson Soccer Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 24 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Jackson
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Jackson
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
13 named trails
Named trails
Klaus Park Trail4.3 mi
Stove Pipe0.7 mi
Tangled0.6 mi
Firebox Loop0.4 mi
Xpresso0.3 mi
Backdraft0.2 mi
Holy Smokes0.2 mi
Ignitor0.2 mi
Inferno0.2 mi
Tree Hugger0.1 mi
3 more trails
Drop Me Off
0.1 miMom Zone
0.1 miStove Pipe / Firebox Return
0.1 miBiking & sports
1.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.0 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
11Baseball
7Tracks
6Tennis
5Basketball
2Football
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →5 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The walking year in Jackson
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) | 42 | 48 | 57 | 69 | 78 | 86 | 89 | 88 | 82 | 70 | 56 | 46 |
| Rain (in) | 3.3 | 3.2 | 4.6 | 5.4 | 5.2 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 4.4 | 3.6 |
February is the driest month (3.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 89 °F). 5.4 inches fall in April, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 89 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Jackson →
Next door
Jackson and its neighbors
Jackson 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson | 2% | 1.9 | 11 | 47% | B |
| Cape Girardeau | 5% | 0.8 | 24 | 80% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Jackson
Where can I hike in Jackson?
The longest trail networks: Klaus Park, 4.3 miles; Brookside Park, 0.8 miles; Jackson Walking Path, 0.4 miles; Litz Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Jackson 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 Jackson’s trails?
Klaus Park and Brookside Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Jackson?
1.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.0 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Jackson?
6,473 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Jackson or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 178 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Jackson have?
Ahead of 59% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #79 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 Jackson 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 →