Photo: Mitchell O'Brien · CC BY-SA 4.0Columbia Falls has 23 acres of parks, 4.1 for every 1,000 residents
3.3 miles of mapped trail cross Columbia Falls, 1.4 per square mile of land. 94% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 5% of Columbia Falls’ land is conserved, about 69 acres.
Ahead of 71% of U.S. towns · #26 of 42 in Montana. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Columbia Falls?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Columbia Falls have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Columbia Falls is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns, #26 of 42 in Montana. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
Montana towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 10%; the U.S., 4%), so Columbia Falls’ 5% is ahead of 24% of Montana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 76% 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.
69 conserved acres
5% of Columbia Falls’ land. Who manages Columbia Falls’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 8 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local Other or Unknown Local Other or Unknown | Other or Unknown Local Government | 67 | Unknown |
| Horine Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Marantette Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| 9Th Street Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Pinewood Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| 12Th St W Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| 2Nd Street Parks Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| 4Th Ave E N Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
3 places to go in Columbia Falls
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
0.0 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).
The best walking months in Columbia Falls: May and July to September
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) | 8.7 | 10.1 | 11.7 | 13.6 | 15.2 | 16.1 | 15.7 | 14.3 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.1 | 8.3 |
| High (°F) | 31 | 35 | 45 | 55 | 65 | 71 | 82 | 81 | 70 | 54 | 39 | 31 |
| Rain (in) | 1.9 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 1.9 |
August is the driest month (0.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 3.0 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Columbia Falls →
Questions about parks and trails in Columbia Falls
How much of Columbia Falls is conserved land?
5% of its land, against a typical 10% for a Montana town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Columbia Falls’ trails?
Pinewood Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Columbia Falls?
56,237 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Columbia Falls or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 33 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Columbia Falls have?
Ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #26 of 42 in Montana. 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 Columbia Falls 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 →