St. Joe State Park
Managed by Missouri Department of Natural Resources
8,445 acres65.8 mi of trail
Pine Ridge TrailGalena TrailHickory Ridge TrailLakeview Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailheadWebsite ↗
Photo: TCP04 · CC BY 4.0A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Park Hills
More than half of Park Hills’ land is conserved: 63%
63% of Park Hills’ land is conserved, about 8,208 acres. 67 miles of mapped trail cross Park Hills, 3.3 per square mile of land. 8,253 acres are parks and preserves, 951 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 97% of U.S. towns · #2 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
Conserved land
63%
8,208 acres · of 20.3 sq mi of land
Trails
67 mi
3.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
8,253 ac
951 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
57%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
14 mi
14 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
4
2 beaches · 3 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Park Hills?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Park Hills have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Park Hills is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns, #2 of 247 in Missouri. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Park Hills’ overall grade.
Conserved land63% of the land · typical MO town 2% · U.S. 4%A+Trails3.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (67 mi) · MO 0.3 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land951 acres of park per 1,000 residents (8,253 acres) · MO 11 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home57% 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 97%
LessMore
Missouri towns of 2,500+ (247)#2 of 247
Few Missouri towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Park Hills’ 63% is ahead of 100% of Missouri towns, while its trails per square mile lead 100% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A 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 St. Joe State Park, with 65.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
8,208 conserved acres
63% of Park Hills’ land. Who manages Park Hills’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city44 ac
Not recorded8,164 ac
State Park · 8,127 acState Historic or Cultural Area · 37 acLocal Recreation Area · 23 acLocal Park · 21 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saint Joe State Park State Park | Not recorded | 8,127 | Open |
| Missouri Mines State Historic Site State Historic or Cultural Area | Not recorded | 37 | Open |
| Park Hills Complex Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 23 | Open |
| Columbia Park Local Park | Town or city | 21 | Open |
Things to do
11 places to go in Park Hills
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Park Hills
Monsanto Lake BeachIn St. Joe State Park
DirectionsPim Lake BeachIn St. Joe State Park
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Park Hills
4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Park Hills
Jolee Boat LaunchIn St. Joe State Park
DirectionsPlus 2 boat launches without a name on the map.
Campgrounds in Park Hills
St. Joe State Park Campground 1 (ORV Area)In St. Joe State Park
DirectionsSt. Joe State Park Campground 2 (Equestrian Area)In St. Joe State Park
DirectionsTrails & water
8 named trails and 4 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 23.4 miHorses · 13.7 miUnpaved · 23.6 mi
Pine Ridge Trail9.6 mi
Galena Trail7.7 mi
Hickory Ridge Trail2.3 mi
Lakeview Trail1.2 mi
White Connector 20.9 mi
White Connector 40.7 mi
White Connector 10.7 mi
White Connector 30.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
14 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
14 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
5Baseball
2Tennis
1Football
1Basketball
1Volleyball
1Beach volleyball
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 7 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
June is the best month for walking in Park Hills
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 | 13.1 | 14.2 | 14.8 | 14.5 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.1 | 9.6 |
| High (°F) | 41 | 46 | 56 | 68 | 76 | 84 | 87 | 86 | 79 | 69 | 55 | 45 |
| Rain (in) | 2.8 | 2.8 | 3.9 | 5.1 | 5.5 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 4.0 | 3.0 |
January is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 5.5 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Park Hills →
Next door
Park Hills and its neighbors
Park Hills has the most mapped trails of the 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Park Hills | 63% | 3.3 | 951 | 57% | A+ |
| Leadington | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Desloge | 2% | 0.3 | 10 | 73% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Park Hills
Where can I hike in Park Hills?
The longest trail networks: St. Joe State Park, 65.8 miles; Columbia Park, 0.7 miles; Quadrangle, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Park Hills is conserved land?
63% 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 Park Hills’ trails?
St. Joe State Park and Columbia Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Park Hills?
14 miles of bike routes are on the map: 14 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Park Hills?
12,138 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Park Hills or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 8,253 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Park Hills have?
Ahead of 97% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #2 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 Park Hills 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 →