East Missoula Lions Park
Park
4 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: A-Reck · CC BY-SA 3.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in East Missoula
10% of East Missoula’s land is conserved, and 99% of residents live within a half mile of a park
10% of East Missoula’s land is conserved, about 70 acres. 0.7 miles of mapped trail cross East Missoula, 0.6 per square mile of land. 7 acres are parks and preserves, 3.1 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 72% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
10%
70 acres · of 1.2 sq mi of land
Trails
0.7 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
7 ac
3.1 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.5 mi
0.5 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is East Missoula?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does East Missoula have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, East Missoula is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of East Missoula’s overall grade.
Conserved land10% of the land · typical MT town 10% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · MT 0.7 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land3.1 acres of park per 1,000 residents (7 acres) · MT 14 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home99% of residents within a half mile of a park · MT 91% · U.S. 72%A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 72%
LessMore
Montana towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 10%; the U.S., 4%), so East Missoula’s 10% is ahead of 50% of Montana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 48% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. 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 East Missoula Lions Park, with 0.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
70 conserved acres
10% of East Missoula’s land. Who manages East Missoula’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits62 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government8 ac
State fish & wildlife1 ac
County1 ac
Unknown Easement · 59 acLocal Other or Unknown · 8 acLocal Park · 4 acState Recreation Area · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 58 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 5 of 8 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local Other or Unknown Local Other or Unknown | Other or Unknown Local Government | 8 | Unknown |
| East Missoula Lions Park Local Park | Land trusts & nonprofits | 3 | Open |
| Sha-Ron Fishing Access Site State Recreation Area | State fish & wildlife | 1 | Open |
| Canyon View Park Local Park | County | 1 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in East Missoula
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in East Missoula
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in East Missoula
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Community gardens in East Missoula
1 community garden without a name on the map.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.5 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.5 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in East Missoula: May 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) | 8.9 | 10.2 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 15.0 | 15.9 | 15.5 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.5 |
| High (°F) | 33 | 37 | 48 | 56 | 66 | 73 | 84 | 83 | 72 | 56 | 40 | 32 |
| Rain (in) | 1.6 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
July is the driest month (0.9 in) and the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 2.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in East Missoula →
Next door
East Missoula and its neighbors
East Missoula 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Missoula | 10% | 0.6 | 3 | 99% | B+ |
| Missoula | 21% | 3.2 | 12 | 97% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in East Missoula
Where can I hike in East Missoula?
The longest trail networks: East Missoula Lions Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of East Missoula is conserved land?
10% 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 East Missoula’s trails?
East Missoula Lions Park and Canyon View County Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in East Missoula?
0.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.5 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near East Missoula?
74,399 acres of parks and open public land lie inside East Missoula or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 7 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does East Missoula have?
Ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 East Missoula 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 →