Standing Bear Park and Trails
Park
180 acres2 mi of trail
Standing Bear Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Reservoirhill at English Wikipedia · Public domainB+Outdoors
Outdoors in Ponca City
11% of Ponca City’s land is conserved: 1,224 acres
The biggest trail networks: Standing Bear Park and Trails (2 mi), War Memorial Park (1 mi), Marland Mansion (0.8 mi). 543 acres are parks and preserves, 22 per 1,000 residents. 80% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 74% of U.S. towns · #15 of 131 in Oklahoma. What drives it
Conserved land
11%
1,224 acres · of 18.2 sq mi of land
Trails
6.2 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
543 ac
22 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
80%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
3
1 beach
What kind of outdoors town is Ponca City?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Ponca City have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Ponca City is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns, #15 of 131 in Oklahoma. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, trail miles lowest.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Ponca City’s overall grade.
Conserved land11% of the land · typical OK town 7% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (6 mi) · OK 0.2 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land22 acres of park per 1,000 residents (543 acres) · OK 10 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home80% of residents within a half mile of a park · OK 62% · U.S. 72%B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 74%
LessMore
Oklahoma towns of 2,500+ (131)Ahead of 89%
Oklahoma towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 7%; the U.S., 4%), so Ponca City’s 11% is ahead of 68% of Oklahoma towns, while its trails per square mile lead 72% of them.
Water is 6% of Ponca City’s area (1 of 19 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 10%.
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 Standing Bear Park and Trails, with 2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Marland Mansion
Managed by Ponca City Parks and Recreation
34 acres0.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Cann Memorial Gardens
Park
11 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Redbud Park
Park
8 acres0.3 mi of trail
Marland Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Marland's Grand Home
Managed by Ponca City Parks and Recreation
4 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 19 parks & preserves
Standing Bear Park and Trails180 acres · 2 mi of trail
DirectionsWar Memorial Park26 acres · 1 mi of trail
DirectionsMarland Mansion34 acres · 0.8 mi of trail · Ponca City Parks and Recreation
DirectionsCann Memorial Gardens11 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
Redbud Park8 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Marland's Grand Home4 acres · 0.3 mi of trail · Ponca City Parks and Recreation
DirectionsLiberty Park15 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsPioneer Woman Monument11 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Lake Ponca North Park96 acres
Lake Ponca Park South44 acres
Willow Springs Park30 acres
Dan Moran Park26 acres
DirectionsGarfield Park9 acres
Johnson Park8 acres
DirectionsSunset Park6 acres
DirectionsSherwood Park5 acres
Frazier Park3 acres
Pecan Park3 acres
Jaycee Park1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
1,224 conserved acres
11% of Ponca City’s land. Water is left out: Ponca City has 18.2 square miles of land and 1.2 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Ponca City’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State land board954 ac
Town or city281 ac
State Resource Management Area · 954 acLocal Park · 255 acLocal Recreation Area · 26 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| CLO Lands State Resource Management Area | State land board | 954 | Restricted |
| Lake Ponca Park Local Park | Town or city | 136 | Open |
| Willow Springs Park Local Park | Town or city | 29 | Open |
| Moran Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 26 | Open |
| War Memorial Park Local Park | Town or city | 26 | Open |
| Pioneer Woman Monument Local Park | Town or city | 11 | Open |
| Garfield Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| North Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Redbud Park Local Park | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Sunset Park Local Park | Town or city | 7 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
13 places to go in Ponca City
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Ponca City
Lake Ponca Beach
DirectionsPublic pools in Ponca City
Lew Wentz Pool
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Ponca City
North Park
DirectionsRedbud PlaygroundIn Redbud Park
DirectionsPlus 8 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Campgrounds in Ponca City
Camp Lew WentzCity of Ponca City
DirectionsTrails & water
2 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Standing Bear Trail1.9 mi
Marland 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
20Baseball
10Tennis
4Tracks
2Football
1Skate park
1Basketball
1Volleyball
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →36 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 5 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Marland-Paris HouseBuilding · listed 1976
About itPioneer Woman StatueObject · listed 1978
About itDaniel J. Donahoe HouseBuilding · listed 1982
About itSoldani MansionBuilding · listed 1982
About itPoncan TheatreBuilding · listed 1984
About itBlaine Stadium and FieldhouseStructure · listed 1988
About itDarr School of Aeronautics Hangar No. 3Building · listed 2006
About itWentz CampDistrict · listed 2010
About itDowntown Ponca City Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2011
About itSanta Fe DepotBuilding · listed 2012
About itFirst Church of Christ, ScientistBuilding · listed 2015
About it24 more on the History page.
When to get out
The walking year in Ponca City
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) | 9.9 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 13.1 | 14.1 | 14.7 | 14.4 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.2 | 10.2 | 9.7 |
| High (°F) | 48 | 53 | 62 | 71 | 80 | 88 | 93 | 92 | 85 | 73 | 60 | 49 |
| Rain (in) | 1.2 | 1.4 | 2.6 | 3.9 | 5.4 | 4.9 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 1.9 | 1.5 |
January is the driest month (1.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 93 °F). 5.4 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 93 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Ponca City →
Questions about parks and trails in Ponca City
Where can I hike in Ponca City?
The longest trail networks: Standing Bear Park and Trails, 2 miles; War Memorial Park, 1 miles; Marland Mansion, 0.8 miles; Cann Memorial Gardens, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Ponca City is conserved land?
11% of its land, against a typical 7% for an Oklahoma town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Ponca City’s trails?
Standing Bear Park and Trails and War Memorial Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Ponca City?
636 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Ponca City or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 543 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Ponca City have?
Ahead of 74% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #15 of 131 in Oklahoma. 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 Ponca City 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 →