Optimist Park
Park
38 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
COutdoors
Outdoors in West Hattiesburg
Few parks or trails are on the map in West Hattiesburg
The biggest trail networks: Optimist Park (0.6 mi). 1% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 37 acres are parks and preserves, 5.6 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 27% of U.S. towns · #63 of 101 in Mississippi. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
41 acres · of 2.4 sq mi of land
Trails
0.9 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
37 ac
5.6 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
1%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does West Hattiesburg have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, West Hattiesburg is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns, #63 of 101 in Mississippi. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of West Hattiesburg’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical MS town 2% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · MS 0.1 · U.S. 0.4BPark land5.6 acres of park per 1,000 residents (37 acres) · MS 8 · U.S. 13CParks close to home1% of residents within a half mile of a park · MS 46% · U.S. 72%D
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 27%
LessMore
Mississippi towns of 2,500+ (101)Ahead of 38%
Few Mississippi towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so West Hattiesburg’s 3% is ahead of 54% of Mississippi towns, while its trails per square mile lead 88% of them.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in West Hattiesburg. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. 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 Optimist Park, with 0.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
41 conserved acres
3% of West Hattiesburg’s land. Who manages West Hattiesburg’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State land board41 ac
State Resource Management Area · 41 ac
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 | 41 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in West Hattiesburg
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in West Hattiesburg
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
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
12Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in West Hattiesburg: 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) | 10.3 | 11.0 | 11.9 | 12.9 | 13.7 | 14.2 | 14.0 | 13.3 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.5 | 10.1 |
| High (°F) | 60 | 64 | 71 | 78 | 85 | 90 | 92 | 91 | 88 | 79 | 69 | 62 |
| Rain (in) | 6.0 | 5.4 | 5.8 | 5.3 | 4.5 | 5.3 | 6.1 | 5.5 | 4.5 | 3.7 | 3.9 | 5.6 |
October is the driest month (3.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 92 °F). 6.1 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 92 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in West Hattiesburg →
Next door
West Hattiesburg and its neighbors
West Hattiesburg has the second most mapped trails of the 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Hattiesburg | 3% | 0.4 | 6 | 1% | C |
| Hattiesburg | 4% | 0.5 | 11 | 57% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in West Hattiesburg
Where can I hike in West Hattiesburg?
The longest trail networks: Optimist Park, 0.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of West Hattiesburg is conserved land?
3% 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 West Hattiesburg’s trails?
Optimist Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near West Hattiesburg?
722 acres of parks and open public land lie inside West Hattiesburg or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 37 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does West Hattiesburg have?
Ahead of 27% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #63 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 West Hattiesburg 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 →