Jason Niles Park
Park
10 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Chillin662 · CC BY-SA 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Kosciusko
15% of Kosciusko’s land is conserved: 716 acres
0.6 miles of mapped trail cross Kosciusko, 0.1 per square mile of land. 67% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 85 acres are parks and preserves, 12 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 55% of U.S. towns · #16 of 101 in Mississippi. What drives it
Conserved land
15%
716 acres · of 7.5 sq mi of land
Trails
0.6 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
85 ac
12 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
67%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.3 mi
0.3 mi lanes
What kind of outdoors town is Kosciusko?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Kosciusko have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Kosciusko is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns, #16 of 101 in Mississippi. Conserved land holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Kosciusko’s overall grade.
Conserved land15% of the land · typical MS town 2% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · MS 0.1 · U.S. 0.4CPark land12 acres of park per 1,000 residents (85 acres) · MS 8 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home67% of residents within a half mile of a park · MS 46% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 55%
LessMore
Mississippi towns of 2,500+ (101)Ahead of 85%
Few Mississippi towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Kosciusko’s 15% is ahead of 93% of Mississippi towns, while its trails per square mile lead 30% of them.
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 Jason Niles Park, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Hugh Ellard Park
Park
42 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Northside Park
Park
14 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
716 conserved acres
15% of Kosciusko’s land. Who manages Kosciusko’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State land board625 ac
Town or city80 ac
National Park Service36 ac
Other or Unknown Federal Land28 ac
State Resource Management Area · 625 acLocal Recreation Area · 58 acRecreation or Education Easement · 56 acLocal Park · 22 acSpecial Designation Area · 8 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 28 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi 16th Section Public School Trust Lands State Resource Management Area | State land board | 625 | Open |
| Hugh Ellard Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 45 | Open |
| Landrum Field Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 13 | Open |
| Northside Park Local Park | Town or city | 12 | Open |
| Niles Park Local Park | Town or city | 10 | Open |
| Natchez Trace Parkway Special Designation Area | National Park Service | 8 | Restricted |
Things to do
4 places to go in Kosciusko
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Kosciusko
4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Biking & sports
0.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.3 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
Courts & fields
13Baseball
5Tennis
1Basketball
1Softball
1Equestrian
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →13 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
David L. Brown HouseBuilding · listed 1977
About itJackson-Niles HouseBuilding · listed 1984
About itJohnson-Sullivan HouseBuilding · listed 1986
About itJackson-Browne HouseBuilding · listed 1987
About itCol. Chap Anderson HouseBuilding · listed 1987
About itFirst Presbyterian Church, OldBuilding · listed 1992
About itJudge Henry C. Niles HouseBuilding · listed 1993
About itJohn Copeland Lucas HouseBuilding · listed 1993
About itAttala County Courthouse and Confederate MonumentBuilding · listed 1997
About itNiles HouseBuilding · listed 1998
About itStorer HouseBuilding · listed 2003
About itKosciusko Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2009
About it1 more on the History page.
When to get out
May is the best month for walking in Kosciusko
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) | 10.2 | 11.0 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 13.8 | 14.3 | 14.1 | 13.4 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.4 | 10.0 |
| High (°F) | 55 | 60 | 68 | 75 | 82 | 88 | 91 | 91 | 86 | 76 | 65 | 57 |
| Rain (in) | 5.4 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 6.0 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 5.0 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 5.7 |
October is the driest month (3.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 91 °F). 6.0 inches fall in April, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 91 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Kosciusko →
Questions about parks and trails in Kosciusko
Where can I hike in Kosciusko?
The longest trail networks: Jason Niles Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Kosciusko is conserved land?
15% 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 Kosciusko’s trails?
Jason Niles Park and Hugh Ellard Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Kosciusko?
0.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.3 of painted or protected lanes.
Is there public land near Kosciusko?
83 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Kosciusko or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 85 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Kosciusko have?
Ahead of 55% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #16 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 Kosciusko 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 →