Lawson City Lake
Managed by City of Lawson
113 acres0.9 mi of trail
Lawson City Lake Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Watkins Mill · Photo: Watkins_Mill,_County_Highway_MM,_Lawson_vicinity_(Clay_County,_Missouri).jpg: Jet Lowe, Photographer derivative work: Kbh3rd · Public domainB−Outdoors
Outdoors in Lawson
Lawson has 116 acres of parks, 40 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Lawson City Lake (0.9 mi). 84% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1.1 miles of mapped trail cross Lawson, 0.4 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 51% of U.S. towns · #115 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
0 acres · of 3.0 sq mi of land
Trails
1.1 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
116 ac
40 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
84%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.4 mi
0.4 mi lanes
Lakes & rivers
1
2 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Lawson?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Lawson have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Lawson is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns, #115 of 247 in Missouri. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Lawson’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical MO town 2% · U.S. 4%DTrails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · MO 0.3 · U.S. 0.4BPark land40 acres of park per 1,000 residents (116 acres) · MO 11 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home84% 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 51%
LessMore
Missouri towns of 2,500+ (247)Ahead of 54%
Few Missouri towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Lawson’s under 1% is ahead of 4% of Missouri towns, while its trails per square mile lead 59% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. 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 Lawson City Lake, with 0.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Things to do
9 places to go in Lawson
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Lawson
4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Lawson
2 boat launches without a name on the map.
Campgrounds in Lawson
Lakeview CampgroundIn Lawson City Lake · City of Lawson
DirectionsPrimitive campgroundIn Lawson City Lake
DirectionsDisc golf in Lawson
Lawson City Disc Golf CourseIn Lawson City Lake · City of Lawson
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Lawson City Lake Trail0.7 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.4 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.4 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
Courts & fields
5Soccer
2Baseball
2Basketball
2Football
1Softball
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 Lawson
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 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 37 | 43 | 54 | 64 | 74 | 83 | 87 | 86 | 78 | 66 | 52 | 41 |
| Rain (in) | 1.2 | 1.5 | 2.4 | 4.0 | 5.1 | 5.0 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.2 | 3.2 | 2.2 | 1.8 |
January is the driest month (1.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 5.1 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Lawson →
Questions about parks and trails in Lawson
Where can I hike in Lawson?
The longest trail networks: Lawson City Lake, 0.9 miles; Lawson City Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Lawson 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 Lawson’s trails?
Lawson City Lake and Lawson City Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Lawson?
0.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.4 of painted or protected lanes.
Is there public land near Lawson?
2,159 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Lawson or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 116 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Lawson have?
Ahead of 51% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #115 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 Lawson 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 →