Augie Nelson Park
Park
5 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Minden
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Minden
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 1% of Minden’s land is conserved, about 21 acres. 28 acres are parks and preserves, 8.9 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 38% of U.S. towns · #51 of 57 in Nebraska. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
21 acres · of 2.2 sq mi of land
Trails
0.0 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
28 ac
8.9 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Minden?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Minden have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Minden is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #51 of 57 in Nebraska. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Minden’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical NE town 4% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · NE 0.3 · U.S. 0.4DPark land8.9 acres of park per 1,000 residents (28 acres) · NE 15 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · NE 90% · U.S. 72%A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 38%
LessMore
Nebraska towns of 2,500+ (57)Ahead of 11%
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
Places to walk
Pick a walk
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Jaycee Park
Park
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
American Legion Park
Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Chartauqua Park
Park
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
21 conserved acres
1% of Minden’s land. Who manages Minden’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city21 ac
Local Park · 15 acLocal Recreation Area · 6 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legion Ball Field Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Jaycee Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Augie Nelson Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Legion Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Chautauqua Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
Things to do
6 places to go in Minden
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Minden
Splash ParkIn Chartauqua Park
DirectionsPlus 4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Campgrounds in Minden
Pioneer Campground
DirectionsBiking & 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
2Basketball
2Tennis
1Football
1Tracks
1Soccer
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 walking year in Minden
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 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 37 | 41 | 53 | 63 | 72 | 83 | 88 | 85 | 79 | 65 | 51 | 39 |
| Rain (in) | 0.5 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 2.6 | 4.4 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 3.1 | 1.9 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 0.7 |
January is the driest month (0.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 4.4 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Minden →
Questions about parks and trails in Minden
How much of Minden is conserved land?
1% 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 Minden’s trails?
Augie Nelson Park and Jaycee Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Minden?
261 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Minden or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 28 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Minden have?
Ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #51 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 Minden 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 →