Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Elizabeth
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Mattano Park (0.7 mi), Kellogg Park (0.6 mi), Carteret Park (0.6 mi). 224 acres are parks and preserves, 1.6 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 48% of U.S. towns · #430 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Elizabeth?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Elizabeth have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Elizabeth is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns, #430 of 468 in New Jersey. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Elizabeth ranks #361 on Outdoors.
New Jersey towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 11%; the U.S., 4%), so Elizabeth’s 2% is ahead of 12% of New Jersey towns, while its trails per square mile lead 23% of them.
Water is 10% of Elizabeth’s area (1 of 14 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 2%.
Park acres per resident are where Elizabeth trails most U.S. towns: 1.6 per 1,000 against 12.6 typical, since 141,675 people share 224 acres.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Mattano Park, with 0.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Carteret Park
Jefferson Park
All 19 parks & preserves
192 conserved acres
2% of Elizabeth’s land. Water is left out: Elizabeth has 12.3 square miles of land and 1.3 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Elizabeth’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth River Park Local Park | County | 58 | Open |
| Waterfront Park Local Park | Town or city | 36 | Open |
| Mattano Park Local Park | County | 32 | Open |
| Kellogg Park Local Park | Town or city | 11 | Open |
| Carteret Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Williams Field Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Erxleben Center(Mravlag Man Local Park | Town or city | 7 | Open |
| Jackson Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Warinanco Park Local Park | County | 5 | Open |
| Brophy Field Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
23 places to go in Elizabeth
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
1 public pool without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Plus 20 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
1 boat launch without a name on the map.
1 lakes & rivers
3.7 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
10 places on the National Register, one a National Historic Landmark
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
The best walking months in Elizabeth: April to June, August 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) | 41 | 43 | 50 | 62 | 72 | 81 | 86 | 85 | 78 | 66 | 55 | 45 |
| Rain (in) | 3.4 | 2.9 | 4.1 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 4.3 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 3.3 | 4.2 |
February is the driest month (2.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 4.6 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 86 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Elizabeth →
Elizabeth and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth | 2% | 0.3 | 2 | 99%+ | B− |
| Union Township | 10% | 0.4 | 11 | 99%+ | A− |
| Newark | 4% | 0.9 | 3 | 97% | B+ |
| Bayonne | 5% | 1.5 | 3 | 99%+ | B+ |
| Linden | 3% | 0.4 | 5 | 99%+ | B |
| Hillside Township | 9% | 0.1 | 8 | 99%+ | B+ |
| Roselle Park | 4% | under 0.1 | 2 | 99%+ | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Elizabeth
Where can I hike in Elizabeth?
The longest trail networks: Mattano Park, 0.7 miles; Kellogg Park, 0.6 miles; Carteret Park, 0.6 miles; Jefferson Park, 0.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Elizabeth is conserved land?
2% 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 Elizabeth’s trails?
Mattano Park and Kellogg Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Elizabeth?
3.7 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.7 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Elizabeth?
34,854 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Elizabeth or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 224 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Elizabeth have?
Ahead of 48% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #430 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 Elizabeth neighbors.
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 →