Photo: Mitchazenia · CC BY-SA 3.0Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Emerson
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 4.2 miles of mapped trail cross Emerson, 1.9 per square mile of land. 29 acres are parks and preserves, 3.9 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 72% of U.S. towns · #339 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Emerson?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Emerson have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Emerson is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns, #339 of 468 in New Jersey. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
New Jersey towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 11%; the U.S., 4%), so Emerson’s 2% is ahead of 8% of New Jersey towns, while its trails per square mile lead 88% of them.
Water is 8% of Emerson’s area (0 of 2 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 2%.
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 Centennial Park, with 0.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
28 conserved acres
2% of Emerson’s land. Water is left out: Emerson has 2.2 square miles of land and 0.2 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Emerson’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emerson Woods Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 20 | Open |
| Emerson Borough Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Hillman Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Ackerman Avenue Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Washington Oak Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
5 places to go in Emerson
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
5 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
2 lakes & rivers
0.0 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.
The best walking months in Emerson: 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) | 9.5 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 39 | 42 | 50 | 62 | 73 | 82 | 87 | 84 | 77 | 65 | 54 | 44 |
| Rain (in) | 3.3 | 2.8 | 4.1 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.2 | 4.4 | 3.6 | 4.1 |
February is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 4.5 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Emerson →
Emerson 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emerson | 2% | 1.9 | 4 | 99%+ | B+ |
| Haworth | 9% | 5.6 | 35 | 99%+ | A+ |
| Westwood | 10% | 1.1 | 12 | 99%+ | A |
| River Vale Township | 8% | 1.9 | 24 | 86% | A |
| Oradell | 9% | 1.1 | 17 | 99%+ | A |
| Closter | 13% | 1.0 | 29 | 99%+ | A+ |
| Harrington Park | 14% | 1.0 | 33 | 99%+ | A+ |
| Paramus | 10% | 1.7 | 26 | 99% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Emerson
Where can I hike in Emerson?
The longest trail networks: Centennial Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Emerson 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 Emerson’s trails?
Centennial Park and Ackerman Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Emerson?
23,359 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Emerson or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 29 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Emerson have?
Ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #339 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 Emerson 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 →