Plum Creek Park
Park
25 acres0.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Ira Webster Olive House · Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainB+Outdoors
Outdoors in Lexington
99% of residents live within a half mile of a park in Lexington
The biggest trail networks: Plum Creek Park (0.8 mi). 1.7 miles of mapped trail cross Lexington, 0.3 per square mile of land. 4% of Lexington’s land is conserved, about 113 acres.
Ahead of 66% of U.S. towns · #27 of 57 in Nebraska. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
113 acres · of 5.1 sq mi of land
Trails
1.7 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
117 ac
11 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.7 mi
0.4 mi lanes · 1.4 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Lexington?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Lexington have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Lexington is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns, #27 of 57 in Nebraska. 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 Lexington’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical NE town 4% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · NE 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land11 acres of park per 1,000 residents (117 acres) · NE 15 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home99% of residents within a half mile of a park · NE 90% · U.S. 72%A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 66%
LessMore
Nebraska towns of 2,500+ (57)Ahead of 54%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B− 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
Places to walk
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Plum Creek Park, with 0.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Kirkpatrick Memorial Park
Park
24 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Arbor Park
Park
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Oak Park
Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 6 parks & preserves
Plum Creek Park25 acres · 0.8 mi of trail
Kirkpatrick Memorial Park24 acres
Arbor Park4 acres
Oak Park3 acres
Pioneer Park2 acres
Centennial Park2 acres
Who protects it
113 conserved acres
4% of Lexington’s land. Who manages Lexington’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city113 ac
Local Park · 61 acLocal Recreation Area · 52 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Optimist Recreation Complex Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 48 | Open |
| Plum Creek Park Local Park | Town or city | 25 | Open |
| Kirk Patrick Memorial Park Local Park | Town or city | 25 | Open |
| Family Aquatic Center Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Arbor Park & Skate Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Oak Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Pioneer Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Centennial Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Lexington
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Lexington
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Road 4330.2 mi
Biking & sports
1.7 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.4 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
1.4 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
12Tennis
7Baseball
6Soccer
2Football
1Beach volleyball
1Skate park
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 Lexington: April 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.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.6 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.4 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 38 | 42 | 53 | 62 | 72 | 83 | 88 | 85 | 79 | 65 | 51 | 40 |
| Rain (in) | 0.4 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 2.3 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.2 | 3.0 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 0.5 |
January is the driest month (0.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 3.7 inches fall in June, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Lexington →
Questions about parks and trails in Lexington
Where can I hike in Lexington?
The longest trail networks: Plum Creek Park, 0.8 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Lexington is conserved land?
4% 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 Lexington’s trails?
Plum Creek Park and Kirkpatrick Memorial Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Lexington?
1.7 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.4 of painted or protected lanes and 1.4 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Lexington?
371 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Lexington or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 117 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Lexington have?
Ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #27 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 Lexington 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 →