Valentine State Fish Hatchery
Managed by State of Nebraska
40 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
F. M. Walcott House · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Valentine
6% of Valentine’s land is conserved: 109 acres
82% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.6 miles of mapped trail cross Valentine, 0.2 per square mile of land. 37 acres are parks and preserves, 14 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 59% of U.S. towns · #33 of 57 in Nebraska. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
109 acres · of 3.0 sq mi of land
Trails
0.6 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
37 ac
14 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
82%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.1 mi
1.1 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Valentine?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Valentine have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Valentine is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns, #33 of 57 in Nebraska. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Valentine’s overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical NE town 4% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · NE 0.3 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land14 acres of park per 1,000 residents (37 acres) · NE 15 · U.S. 13BParks close to home82% 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 59%
LessMore
Nebraska towns of 2,500+ (57)Ahead of 43%
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Colburn Park
Park
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Valentine City Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 5 parks & preserves
Valentine State Fish Hatchery40 acres · State of Nebraska
Ecology Park5 acres
DirectionsColburn Park2 acres
Valentine City Park1 acres
Valentine Trailhead Park1 acres
Who protects it
109 conserved acres
6% of Valentine’s land. Who manages Valentine’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife80 ac
Town or city32 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 72 acLocal Recreation Area · 25 acState Other or Unknown · 8 acLocal Park · 7 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 6 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valentine Fish Hatchery State Other or Unknown | State fish & wildlife | 80 | Unknown |
| Unknown Ball Complex Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 25 | Open |
| Ecological Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
1.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.1 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
6Baseball
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →5 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
September is the best month for walking in Valentine
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) | 9.3 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 36 | 39 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 81 | 88 | 86 | 78 | 63 | 48 | 38 |
| Rain (in) | 0.4 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 3.7 | 4.0 | 2.7 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 0.5 |
January is the driest month (0.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 4.0 inches fall in June, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Valentine →
Questions about parks and trails in Valentine
How much of Valentine 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 Valentine’s trails?
Valentine State Fish Hatchery and Ecology Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Valentine?
1.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.1 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Valentine?
974 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Valentine or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 37 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Valentine have?
Ahead of 59% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #33 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 Valentine 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 →