Hunter-Dawson State Historic Site
Managed by Missouri State Parks
5 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: en:User:Cngodles · CC BY 2.5B+Outdoors
Outdoors in New Madrid
97% of residents live within a half mile of a park in New Madrid
68 acres are parks and preserves, 26 per 1,000 residents. 1.9 miles of mapped trail cross New Madrid, 0.4 per square mile of land. 2% of New Madrid’s land is conserved, about 61 acres.
Ahead of 71% of U.S. towns · #42 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
61 acres · of 4.5 sq mi of land
Trails
1.9 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
68 ac
26 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
97%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.5 mi
0.5 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is New Madrid?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does New Madrid have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, New Madrid is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns, #42 of 247 in Missouri. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of New Madrid’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical MO town 2% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · MO 0.3 · U.S. 0.4BPark land26 acres of park per 1,000 residents (68 acres) · MO 11 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home97% of residents within a half mile of a park · MO 74% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 71%
LessMore
Missouri towns of 2,500+ (247)Ahead of 83%
Few Missouri towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so New Madrid’s 2% is ahead of 53% of Missouri towns, while its trails per square mile lead 63% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
61 conserved acres
2% of New Madrid’s land. Who manages New Madrid’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city40 ac
Not recorded20 ac
Local Park · 40 acState Historic or Cultural Area · 19 acState Resource Management Area · 1 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hunter Dawson Park Local Park | Town or city | 25 | Open |
| Hunter-Dawson State Historic Site State Historic or Cultural Area | Not recorded | 19 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 15 | Open |
| New Madrid Forestry Office State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 1 | Open |
| Unknpwn Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
6 places to go in New Madrid
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in New Madrid
6 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Biking & sports
0.5 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.5 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
6Baseball
1Basketball
1Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 2 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Hunter-Dawson HouseBuilding · listed 2012
About itWhen to get out
The walking year in New Madrid
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 | 14.1 | 14.6 | 14.4 | 13.5 | 12.4 | 11.2 | 10.2 | 9.7 |
| High (°F) | 44 | 49 | 59 | 70 | 79 | 87 | 90 | 89 | 83 | 72 | 58 | 48 |
| Rain (in) | 3.8 | 3.8 | 4.8 | 5.3 | 5.0 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 4.4 |
August is the driest month (3.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 5.3 inches fall in April, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in New Madrid →
Questions about parks and trails in New Madrid
How much of New Madrid 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 New Madrid’s trails?
Hunter-Dawson State Historic Site doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in New Madrid?
0.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.5 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near New Madrid?
87 acres of parks and open public land lie inside New Madrid or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 70 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does New Madrid have?
Ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #42 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 New Madrid 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 →