Brick Kiln Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: USDA Forest Service photo by Kyle Brooks · CC BY-SA 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Nelsonville
21% of Nelsonville’s land is conserved: 636 acres
28 acres are parks and preserves, 6.5 per 1,000 residents. 72% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1.1 miles of mapped trail cross Nelsonville, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 60% of U.S. towns · #387 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Conserved land
21%
636 acres · of 4.7 sq mi of land
Trails
1.1 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
28 ac
6.5 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
72%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.2 mi
0.9 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Nelsonville?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Nelsonville have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Nelsonville is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns, #387 of 993 in Ohio. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Nelsonville’s overall grade.
Conserved land21% of the land · typical OH town 3% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · OH 0.2 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land6.5 acres of park per 1,000 residents (28 acres) · OH 15 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home72% of residents within a half mile of a park · OH 60% · U.S. 72%B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 60%
LessMore
Ohio towns of 2,500+ (993)Ahead of 61%
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
636 conserved acres
21% of Nelsonville’s land. Who manages Nelsonville’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service617 ac
Town or city20 ac
National Forest · 617 acLocal Park · 20 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wayne National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 617 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 13 | Open |
| Unknown Ball Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Nelson Commons Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Nelsonville
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Nelsonville
1 public pool without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in Nelsonville
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Biking & sports
3.2 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.9 mi
off-road bike paths
2.3 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
3Basketball
2Tennis
2Football
2Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
August is the best month for walking in Nelsonville
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) | 38 | 42 | 52 | 66 | 74 | 81 | 84 | 84 | 77 | 66 | 54 | 43 |
| Rain (in) | 3.1 | 2.8 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.2 |
February is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.5 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Nelsonville →
Next door
Nelsonville 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nelsonville | 21% | 0.2 | 7 | 72% | B |
| York Township | 42% | 0.4 | 324 | 64% | A |
| Ward Township | 83% | 0.9 | 4,671 | 39% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Nelsonville
How much of Nelsonville is conserved land?
21% of its land, against a typical 3% for an Ohio town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Nelsonville’s trails?
Brick Kiln Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Nelsonville?
3.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.9 of off-road paths and 2.3 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Nelsonville?
84,804 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Nelsonville or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 649 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Nelsonville have?
Ahead of 60% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #387 of 993 in Ohio. 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 Nelsonville 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 →