Photo: Cohee · CC BY 3.0Houston has 59 acres of parks, 16 for every 1,000 residents
1% of Houston’s land is conserved, about 58 acres. 55% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 26% of U.S. towns · #65 of 101 in Mississippi. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Houston?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Houston have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Houston is ahead of 26% of U.S. towns, #65 of 101 in Mississippi. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
Few Mississippi towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Houston’s 1% is ahead of 40% of Mississippi towns, while its trails per square mile lead 6% of them.
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
58 conserved acres
1% of Houston’s land. Who manages Houston’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Brigance Memorial Park Local Park | Town or city | 52 | Open |
| Pearl Street Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Bob Verell Tommie Lee Parker Sr. Memorial Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
3.0 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.
3 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
May is the best month for walking in Houston
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) | 10.1 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 13.9 | 14.4 | 14.2 | 13.4 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.3 | 9.9 |
| High (°F) | 53 | 58 | 67 | 75 | 82 | 88 | 91 | 91 | 86 | 76 | 64 | 56 |
| Rain (in) | 5.0 | 5.4 | 5.2 | 5.6 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.4 | 4.0 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 5.6 |
September is the driest month (3.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 91 °F). 5.6 inches fall in April, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 91 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Houston →
Questions about parks and trails in Houston
How much of Houston is conserved land?
1% 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 Houston’s trails?
Joe Brigance Memorial Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Houston?
3.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.0 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Houston?
20,241 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Houston or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 59 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Houston have?
Ahead of 26% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #65 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 Houston 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 →