Shepard State Park
Park
125 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailheadWebsite ↗
B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Gautier
26% of Gautier’s land is conserved: 4,981 acres
The biggest trail networks: Shepard State Park (0.7 mi). 27% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 166 acres are parks and preserves, 8.7 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 50% of U.S. towns · #22 of 101 in Mississippi. What drives it
Conserved land
26%
4,981 acres · of 30.3 sq mi of land
Trails
6.7 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
166 ac
8.7 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
27%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
11
What kind of outdoors town is Gautier?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Gautier have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Gautier is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns, #22 of 101 in Mississippi. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Gautier’s overall grade.
Conserved land26% of the land · typical MS town 2% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (7 mi) · MS 0.1 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land8.7 acres of park per 1,000 residents (166 acres) · MS 8 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home27% of residents within a half mile of a park · MS 46% · U.S. 72%C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 50%
LessMore
Mississippi towns of 2,500+ (101)Ahead of 79%
Few Mississippi towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Gautier’s 26% is ahead of 98% of Mississippi towns, while its trails per square mile lead 66% of them.
Water is 6% of Gautier’s area (2 of 32 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 24%.
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 Shepard State Park, with 0.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge
Nature preserve
1,794 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
4,981 conserved acres
26% of Gautier’s land. Water is left out: Gautier has 30.3 square miles of land and 1.9 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Gautier’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service3,854 ac
Other state land2,783 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits230 ac
State parks131 ac
Town or city31 ac
National Wildlife Refuge · 3,854 acState Conservation Area · 2,783 acConservation Easement · 210 acState Park · 131 acOther Easement · 20 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 107 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 14 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 3,854 | Restricted |
| Pascagoula River Coastal Reserve State Conservation Area | Other state land | 2,135 | Restricted |
| Graveline Bay Coastal Reserve State Conservation Area | Other state land | 649 | Restricted |
| Shepard State Park State Park | State parks | 131 | Open |
| Ball Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 19 | Open |
| Gautier City Park Local Park | Town or city | 12 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Gautier
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Scenic views in Gautier
2 scenic views without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
11 lakes & rivers
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
9Baseball
7Tennis
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Gautier: April and May
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) | 10.4 | 11.1 | 11.9 | 12.9 | 13.7 | 14.1 | 13.9 | 13.2 | 12.3 | 11.4 | 10.6 | 10.2 |
| High (°F) | 60 | 64 | 70 | 76 | 83 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 87 | 79 | 69 | 63 |
| Rain (in) | 5.5 | 4.1 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 5.1 | 6.7 | 8.1 | 7.3 | 6.0 | 3.9 | 4.0 | 4.9 |
October is the driest month (3.9 in) and August the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 8.1 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Gautier →
Next door
Gautier and its neighbors
Gautier 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gautier | 26% | 0.2 | 9 | 27% | B− |
| Vancleave | 15% | under 0.1 | 1 | under 1% | C− |
| Ocean Springs | 14% | 0.5 | 24 | 88% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Gautier
Where can I hike in Gautier?
The longest trail networks: Shepard State Park, 0.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Gautier is conserved land?
26% of its land, against a typical 2% for a Mississippi town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Gautier’s trails?
Shepard State Park and Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Gautier?
16,198 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Gautier or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 166 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Gautier have?
Ahead of 50% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #22 of 101 in Mississippi. 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 Gautier 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 →