Houk Stream Park
Managed by City of Oakwood, OH
12 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Zeist85 · Public domainB+Outdoors
Outdoors in Oakwood
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Oakwood
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Houk Stream Park (0.7 mi). 1.3 miles of mapped trail cross Oakwood, 0.6 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 73% of U.S. towns · #225 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
62 acres · of 2.2 sq mi of land
Trails
1.3 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
67 ac
7.0 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.3 mi
0.9 mi lanes · 0.3 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Oakwood?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Oakwood have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Oakwood is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns, #225 of 993 in Ohio. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Oakwood’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical OH town 3% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · OH 0.2 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land7.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (67 acres) · OH 15 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · OH 60% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 73%
LessMore
Ohio towns of 2,500+ (993)Ahead of 77%
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
The longest trail network is Houk Stream Park, with 0.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Hawthorn Hill
Managed by Dayton History
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Hills & Dales MetroPark
Managed by Five Rivers MetroParks
3 acres0.1 mi of trail
Inspiration Point Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 7 parks & preserves
Houk Stream Park12 acres · 0.7 mi of trail · City of Oakwood, OH
DirectionsHills & Dales MetroPark3 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · Five Rivers MetroParks
DirectionsElizabeth Gardens Park2 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsFairridge Park2 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · City of Oakwood
Hawthorn Hill4 acres · Dayton History
DirectionsOrchardly Park2 acres
Shafor Park2 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
62 conserved acres
4% of Oakwood’s land. Who manages Oakwood’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city39 ac
Regional agency12 ac
Private owners7 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits4 ac
Local Park · 35 acRecreation or Education Easement · 12 acLocal Recreation Area · 8 acPrivate Park · 7 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Houk Stream Local Park | Town or city | 11 | Open |
| Creager Field Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Dayton Country Club Private Park | Private owners | 7 | Open |
| Old River Park Local Park | Land trusts & nonprofits | 4 | Open |
| Shafor Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Hills & Dales Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Wright Park And Library Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Elizabeth Gardens Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Oakwood City Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Fairridge Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
3 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
14 places to go in Oakwood
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Oakwood
Oakwood Community Pool
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Oakwood
Cook Park PlaygroundIn Cook Park
DirectionsFairridge Park PlaygroundIn Fairridge Park
DirectionsFairridge Park PlaygroundIn Fairridge Park
DirectionsHarman School Playground
DirectionsLange School Playground
DirectionsOrchardly Park PlaygroundIn Orchardly Park
DirectionsOrchardly Park Splash PadIn Orchardly Park
DirectionsShafor Park PlaygroundIn Shafor Park
Directions1 more playground
Smith School Playground
DirectionsPlus 3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Oakwood
Creager Field Dog Park
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Unpaved · 0.7 mi
Inspiration Point Trail0.1 mi
Biking & sports
1.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.9 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
0.3 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
17Tennis
3Tracks
2Basketball
1Football
1Multi-sport
1Baseball
1Softball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →6 places on the National Register, one a National Historic Landmark
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 6 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
August is the best month for walking in Oakwood
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 | 14.3 | 15.0 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 37 | 41 | 51 | 64 | 74 | 82 | 85 | 84 | 78 | 66 | 52 | 41 |
| Rain (in) | 3.1 | 2.4 | 3.4 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.1 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.1 |
February is the driest month (2.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 4.5 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Oakwood →
Next door
Oakwood and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Oakwood
Where can I hike in Oakwood?
The longest trail networks: Houk Stream Park, 0.7 miles; Hills & Dales MetroPark, 0.1 miles; Elizabeth Gardens Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Oakwood is conserved land?
4% 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 Oakwood’s trails?
Houk Stream Park and Hawthorn Hill don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Oakwood?
1.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.9 of painted or protected lanes and 0.3 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Oakwood?
13,729 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Oakwood or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 67 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Oakwood have?
Ahead of 73% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #225 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 Oakwood 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 →