Lake Shel-oole Baseball Complex
Park
10 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license: · CC BY-SA 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Shelby
Shelby has 15 miles of mapped trails, 2.6 for every square mile of land
33% of Shelby’s land is conserved, about 1,241 acres. 88 acres are parks and preserves, 27 per 1,000 residents. 76% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns · #5 of 42 in Montana. What drives it
Conserved land
33%
1,241 acres · of 5.8 sq mi of land
Trails
15 mi
2.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
88 ac
27 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
76%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.6 mi
2.6 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Shelby?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Shelby have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Shelby is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #5 of 42 in Montana. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; trail miles rank highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Shelby’s overall grade.
Conserved land33% of the land · typical MT town 10% · U.S. 4%A+Trails2.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (15 mi) · MT 0.7 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land27 acres of park per 1,000 residents (88 acres) · MT 14 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home76% of residents within a half mile of a park · MT 91% · U.S. 72%B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 94%
LessMore
Montana towns of 2,500+ (42)Ahead of 90%
Montana towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 10%; the U.S., 4%), so Shelby’s 33% is ahead of 95% of Montana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 83% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would still be 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Johnson Memorial Park
Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Lincoln Park
Park
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 5 parks & preserves
Aronow Park6 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsLake Shel-oole Baseball Complex10 acres
Johnson Memorial Park3 acres
Lincoln Park2 acres
Mary Allison Blue Sky Park1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
1,241 conserved acres
33% of Shelby’s land. Who manages Shelby’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Other or Unknown Local Government1,157 ac
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service86 ac
Town or city60 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 1,157 acConservation Easement · 86 acLocal Park · 60 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 84 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 7 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 | 1,157 | Unknown |
| Williamson Park Local Park | Town or city | 48 | Open |
| Aronow Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Johnson Memorial Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Lincoln Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Mary Allison Blue Sky Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
8 places to go in Shelby
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Shelby
Shelby Swimming PoolIn Johnson Memorial Park
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Shelby
5 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Campgrounds in Shelby
Lewis & Clark Camping
DirectionsWilliamson Park Campground
DirectionsTrails & water
2 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
2.6 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.6 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
7Baseball
3Tennis
2Football
1Beach volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Shelby: 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) | 32 | 35 | 44 | 55 | 65 | 73 | 82 | 82 | 71 | 57 | 42 | 33 |
| Rain (in) | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 3.0 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.4 |
February is the driest month (0.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 3.0 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Shelby →
Questions about parks and trails in Shelby
Where can I hike in Shelby?
The longest trail networks: Aronow Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Shelby is conserved land?
33% 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 Shelby’s trails?
Lake Shel-oole Baseball Complex and Aronow Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Shelby?
2.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.6 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Shelby?
33,634 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Shelby or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 91 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Shelby have?
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #5 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 Shelby 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 →