Photo: Woodlot · CC BY-SA 3.05% of Gulfport’s land is conserved: 1,915 acres
The biggest trail networks: Jones Memorial Park (1.6 mi). 480 acres are parks and preserves, 6.6 per 1,000 residents. 12 miles of mapped trail cross Gulfport, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 43% of U.S. towns · #29 of 101 in Mississippi. What drives it
How much outdoors does Gulfport have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Gulfport is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns, #29 of 101 in Mississippi. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
Few Mississippi towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Gulfport’s 5% is ahead of 75% of Mississippi towns, while its trails per square mile lead 65% of them.
Water is 13% of Gulfport’s area (8 of 64 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 5%.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Jones Memorial Park, with 1.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
All 9 parks & preserves
1,915 conserved acres
5% of Gulfport’s land. Water is left out: Gulfport has 55.6 square miles of land and 8.4 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Gulfport’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 4 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biloxi River Coastal Reserve State Conservation Area | Other state land | 840 | Restricted |
| Mississippi 16th Section Public School Trust Lands State Resource Management Area | State land board | 633 | Open |
| Gulfport Sportsplex Local Park | Town or city | 241 | Open |
| Jack & Florence Goldin Park Local Park | Town or city | 42 | Open |
| Jones Park Local Park | Town or city | 32 | Open |
| Bayou Bernard Park Local Park | Town or city | 19 | Open |
| James Hill Park Local Park | Town or city | 17 | Open |
| Turkey Creek Park Local Park | Town or city | 12 | Open |
| Bayou View Baseball Complex Local Park | Town or city | 11 | Open |
| De Soto National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 9 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
19 places to go in Gulfport
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Plus 16 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
1 boat launch without a name on the map.
4 lakes & rivers
19 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
16 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 4 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
4 more on the History page.
The best walking months in Gulfport: 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) | 61 | 64 | 71 | 76 | 83 | 88 | 90 | 90 | 87 | 79 | 70 | 63 |
| Rain (in) | 5.8 | 4.5 | 5.5 | 5.6 | 5.4 | 6.7 | 7.6 | 6.6 | 5.4 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 5.1 |
October is the driest month (3.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 7.6 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Gulfport →
Gulfport and its neighbors
Gulfport has the second most mapped trails of the 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gulfport | 5% | 0.2 | 7 | 55% | C+ |
| Biloxi | 6% | 0.3 | 5 | 60% | B− |
| Long Beach | under 1% | 0.1 | 1 | 20% | D |
| Lyman | under 1% | under 0.1 | 1 | 9% | D− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Gulfport
Where can I hike in Gulfport?
The longest trail networks: Jones Memorial Park, 1.6 miles; West Side Park, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Gulfport is conserved land?
5% 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 Gulfport’s trails?
Jones Memorial Park and West Side Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Gulfport?
19 miles of bike routes are on the map: 13 of painted or protected lanes and 5.6 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Gulfport?
34,867 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Gulfport or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 489 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Gulfport have?
Ahead of 43% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #29 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 Gulfport neighbors.
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 →