Lahontan State Recreation Area
Managed by Nevada State Parks
7,657 acres28.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Kelapstick · CC BY-SA 3.0C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Silver Springs
Silver Springs has 219 miles of mapped trails, 3.1 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Lahontan State Recreation Area (28.7 mi), Fort Churchill State Historic Park (5 mi). 2 acres are parks and preserves, 0.4 per 1,000 residents. 14% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 44% of U.S. towns · #38 of 42 in Nevada. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
2,318 acres · of 71.6 sq mi of land
Trails
219 mi
3.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
2 ac
0.4 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
14%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
2 beaches · 1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Silver Springs?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Silver Springs have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Silver Springs is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #38 of 42 in Nevada. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Silver Springs’ overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical NV town 5% · U.S. 4%BTrails3.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (219 mi) · NV 2.0 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land0.4 acres of park per 1,000 residents (2 acres) · NV 6 · U.S. 13DParks close to home14% of residents within a half mile of a park · NV 74% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 44%
LessMore
Nevada towns of 2,500+ (42)Ahead of 10%
Water is 7% of Silver Springs’ area (6 of 77 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 5%.
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
The longest trail network is Lahontan State Recreation Area, with 28.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Fort Churchill State Historic Park
Managed by Nevada State Parks
2,306 acres5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
2,318 conserved acres
5% of Silver Springs’ land. Water is left out: Silver Springs has 71.6 square miles of land and 5.5 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Silver Springs’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State parks2,318 ac
State Recreation Area · 1,692 acState Historic or Cultural Area · 627 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Lahontan State Recreation Area State Recreation Area | State parks | 1,692 | Restricted |
| Fort Churchill State Historic Park State Historic or Cultural Area | State parks | 627 | Restricted |
Things to do
3 places to go in Silver Springs
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Silver Springs
Silver Springs BeachIn Lahontan State Recreation Area
DirectionsVirginia BeachIn Lahontan State Recreation Area
DirectionsBoat launches in Silver Springs
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
2 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 141.9 mi
Via Segundo0.7 mi
Donner Trail0.3 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & 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
2Baseball
1Softball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 2 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Buckland StationBuilding · listed 1997
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Silver Springs: 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 | 10.0 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 47 | 52 | 60 | 66 | 75 | 86 | 95 | 93 | 84 | 70 | 56 | 46 |
| Rain (in) | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.5 |
July is the driest month (0.2 in) and the warmest (highs of 95 °F). 0.6 inches fall in January, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 95 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Silver Springs →
Questions about parks and trails in Silver Springs
Where can I hike in Silver Springs?
The longest trail networks: Lahontan State Recreation Area, 28.7 miles; Fort Churchill State Historic Park, 5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Silver Springs is conserved land?
5% of its land, against a typical 5% for a Nevada town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Silver Springs’ trails?
Lahontan State Recreation Area and Fort Churchill State Historic Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Silver Springs?
219,309 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Silver Springs or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 7,120 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Silver Springs have?
Ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #38 of 42 in Nevada. 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 Silver Springs 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 →