Idol Park
Park
13 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Pine Hall · Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Madison
Madison has 154 acres of parks, 68 for every 1,000 residents
90% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1.7 miles of mapped trail cross Madison, 0.5 per square mile of land. 5% of Madison’s land is conserved, about 120 acres.
Ahead of 82% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
120 acres · of 3.5 sq mi of land
Trails
1.7 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
154 ac
68 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
90%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Madison?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Madison have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Madison is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; park acres per resident rank highest, conserved land lowest.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Madison’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical NC town 3% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · NC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4BPark land68 acres of park per 1,000 residents (154 acres) · NC 8 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home90% of residents within a half mile of a park · NC 51% · U.S. 72%B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 82%
LessMore
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 Idol Park, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Mayodan Tennis Park
Park
16 acres0.2 mi of trail
School Loop Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Highway 704 River Access
Managed by Madison-Mayodan Recreation Department
15 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Goodwill First Baptist Community Park
Park
3 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
120 conserved acres
5% of Madison’s land. Who manages Madison’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city21 ac
Not recorded98 ac
State Park · 98 acLocal Park · 21 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mayo River State Park State Park | Not recorded | 98 | Open |
| Idol Park Local Park | Town or city | 19 | Open |
| Mayodan Tennis Court Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
Things to do
5 places to go in Madison
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Madison
4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Madison
Highway 704 River Access
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
School Loop Trail0.2 mi
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
12Tennis
2Baseball
1Football
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 Madison: April to June
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) | 9.9 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 13.1 | 14.1 | 14.6 | 14.4 | 13.5 | 12.4 | 11.2 | 10.2 | 9.7 |
| High (°F) | 49 | 53 | 61 | 71 | 78 | 86 | 89 | 87 | 81 | 71 | 61 | 52 |
| Rain (in) | 3.6 | 2.9 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 3.5 |
February is the driest month (2.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 89 °F). 4.5 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 89 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Madison →
Next door
Madison and its neighbors
Madison 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madison | 5% | 0.5 | 68 | 90% | A− |
| Mayodan | 33% | 1.7 | 274 | 85% | A+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Madison
Where can I hike in Madison?
The longest trail networks: Idol Park, 0.3 miles; Mayodan Tennis Park, 0.2 miles; Goodwill First Baptist Community Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Madison is conserved land?
5% of its land, against a typical 3% for a North Carolina town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Madison’s trails?
Idol Park and Mayodan Tennis Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Madison?
4,908 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Madison or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 154 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Madison have?
Ahead of 82% 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 Madison 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 →