City Park
Park
58 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainBOutdoors
Outdoors in Fairbury
Fairbury has 102 acres of parks, 26 for every 1,000 residents
84% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.1 miles of mapped trail cross Fairbury. 6% of Fairbury’s land is conserved, about 99 acres.
Ahead of 58% of U.S. towns · #36 of 57 in Nebraska. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
99 acres · of 2.5 sq mi of land
Trails
0.1 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
102 ac
26 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
84%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Fairbury?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Fairbury have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Fairbury is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns, #36 of 57 in Nebraska. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Fairbury’s overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical NE town 4% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · NE 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land26 acres of park per 1,000 residents (102 acres) · NE 15 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home84% of residents within a half mile of a park · NE 90% · U.S. 72%B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 58%
LessMore
Nebraska towns of 2,500+ (57)Ahead of 38%
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
McNish Park
Park
14 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
99 conserved acres
6% of Fairbury’s land. Who manages Fairbury’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city99 ac
Local Park · 99 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiarbury City Park Local Park | Town or city | 85 | Open |
| Mcnish Park Local Park | Town or city | 14 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Fairbury
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Fairbury
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
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
5Baseball
2Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →7 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Jefferson County CourthouseBuilding · listed 1972
About itFairbury Public-Carnegie LibraryBuilding · listed 1985
About itIOOF Temple BuildingBuilding · listed 1987
About itFairbury Rock Island Depot and Freight HouseBuilding · listed 1996
About itFairbury Commercial Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1997
About itFairbury Jr/Sr High School and Gymnasium-AuditoriumBuilding · listed 1999
About itJohn C. Kesterson HouseBuilding · listed 2019
About itWhen to get out
April is the best month for walking in Fairbury
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) | 9.6 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.4 | 15.0 | 14.8 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 37 | 42 | 54 | 65 | 75 | 85 | 89 | 87 | 80 | 67 | 52 | 40 |
| Rain (in) | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 2.8 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 3.0 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 1.0 |
January is the driest month (0.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 89 °F). 4.8 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 89 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Fairbury →
Questions about parks and trails in Fairbury
How much of Fairbury is conserved land?
6% of its land, against a typical 4% for a Nebraska town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Fairbury’s trails?
City Park and McNish Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Fairbury?
1,215 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Fairbury or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 102 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Fairbury have?
Ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #36 of 57 in Nebraska. 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 Fairbury 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 →