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Velva Grain ElevatorsPhoto: Elcajonfarms at en.wikipedia · CC BY 3.0
B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Velva

Few parks or trails are on the map in Velva

41 acres are parks and preserves, 38 per 1,000 residents. 82% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.3 miles of mapped trail cross Velva, 0.3 per square mile of land.

Ahead of 48% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Conserved land
under 1%
0 acres · of 1.0 sq mi of land
Trails
0.3 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
41 ac
38 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
82%
of residents within ½ mile

What kind of outdoors town is Velva?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Velva have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Velva is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.

B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Velva’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 48%
LessMore
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Velva. 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 B+. 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
Things to do

7 places to go in Velva

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Playgrounds in Velva

7 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.

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
3Baseball
2Equestrian
1Football
1Tennis
1Beach volleyball

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

2 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).

History →
Hotel BerryBuilding · listed 1982
About it
Alfred and Clara Sevareid HouseBuilding · listed 1996
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in Velva: August and 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)8.810.111.713.615.216.015.714.312.510.79.28.4
High (°F)192436536776828271553724
Rain (in)0.40.50.71.12.73.72.72.01.61.40.70.6

January is the driest month (0.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 3.7 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Velva →

Questions about parks and trails in Velva

How much of Velva is conserved land?

under 1% of its land, against a typical 3% for a North Dakota town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.

Is there public land near Velva?

41 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Velva or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 41 of them inside the city line.

How much outdoors does Velva have?

Ahead of 48% 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 Velva neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →