Bruno Melini Park
Park
13 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Dwainwr123 at English Wikipedia · Public domainA−Outdoors
Outdoors in Buena
Buena has 314 acres of parks, 69 for every 1,000 residents
12% of Buena’s land is conserved, about 607 acres. 85% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1.3 miles of mapped trail cross Buena, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 78% of U.S. towns · #290 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
Conserved land
12%
607 acres · of 7.6 sq mi of land
Trails
1.3 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
314 ac
69 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
85%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.8 mi
1.8 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Buena?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Buena have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Buena is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns, #290 of 468 in New Jersey. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Buena’s overall grade.
Conserved land12% of the land · typical NJ town 11% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · NJ 0.7 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land69 acres of park per 1,000 residents (314 acres) · NJ 25 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home85% of residents within a half mile of a park · NJ 98% · U.S. 72%B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 78%
LessMore
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 38%
New Jersey towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 11%; the U.S., 4%), so Buena’s 12% is ahead of 53% of New Jersey towns, while its trails per square mile lead 18% of them.
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.
Who protects it
607 conserved acres
12% of Buena’s land. Who manages Buena’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Other state land530 ac
Town or city176 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits160 ac
Not recorded78 ac
Agricultural Easement · 530 acPrivate Conservation · 198 acLocal Resource Management Area · 100 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 40 acLocal Recreation Area · 29 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 272 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blackwater Pond Park Local Resource Management Area | Town or city | 100 | Open |
| Unexpected Wildlife Refuge Wildlife Refuge Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 78 | Open |
| unknown Private Conservation | Not recorded | 78 | Open |
| Unexpected Wildlife Refuge Preserve Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 41 | Open |
| Unexpected Wildlife Refuge Unknown Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 40 | Open |
| Bruno Melini Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 29 | Open |
| Cleary Jr High School Local Park | Town or city | 23 | Open |
| Buena Borough Unknown Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 19 | Open |
| Minotola #2 Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Spanish Community Center Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
1 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
1 places to go in Buena
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Buena
Brunini Pool
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Melini Track0.2 mi
Biking & sports
1.8 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.8 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
5Baseball
2Tennis
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Buena: April to June
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) | 9.7 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 43 | 45 | 53 | 65 | 74 | 82 | 87 | 85 | 78 | 67 | 56 | 47 |
| Rain (in) | 3.4 | 2.9 | 4.5 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 4.1 | 4.7 | 4.9 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 3.3 | 4.3 |
February is the driest month (2.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 4.9 inches fall in August, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Buena →
Next door
Buena and its neighbors
Buena has the second most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buena | 12% | 0.2 | 69 | 85% | A− |
| Buena Vista Township | 10% | 0.7 | 393 | 73% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Buena
How much of Buena is conserved land?
12% of its land, against a typical 11% for a New Jersey town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Buena’s trails?
Bruno Melini Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Buena?
1.8 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.8 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Buena?
56,413 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Buena or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 314 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Buena have?
Ahead of 78% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #290 of 468 in New Jersey. 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 Buena 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 →