Photo: Clinton Steeds · CC BY 2.0Few parks or trails are on the map in Poteau
31% of Poteau’s land is conserved, about 5,233 acres. 342 acres are parks and preserves, 38 per 1,000 residents. 0.2 miles of mapped trail cross Poteau.
Ahead of 56% of U.S. towns · #56 of 131 in Oklahoma. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Poteau?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Poteau have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Poteau is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns, #56 of 131 in Oklahoma. Conserved land holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
Oklahoma towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 7%; the U.S., 4%), so Poteau’s 31% is ahead of 99% of Oklahoma towns, while its trails per square mile lead 12% of them.
Water is 7% of Poteau’s area (2 of 29 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 28%.
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.
5,233 conserved acres
31% of Poteau’s land. Water is left out: Poteau has 26.6 square miles of land and 2.1 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Poteau’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| CLO Lands State Resource Management Area | State land board | 3,428 | Restricted |
| Kerr Center For Sustainable Agriculture Private Recreation or Education | Private owners | 1,705 | Closed |
| Wister State Park State Park | State parks | 369 | Open |
| Wister Wildlife Management Area & Waterfowl Refuge State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 158 | Restricted |
| Twyman Park & Pool Local Park | Town or city | 26 | Open |
| Bill Barber Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Dunbar Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
2 places to go in Poteau
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
6 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.
5 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
The walking year in Poteau
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) | 10.0 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 14.5 | 14.3 | 13.5 | 12.3 | 11.2 | 10.3 | 9.8 |
| High (°F) | 52 | 57 | 65 | 74 | 81 | 88 | 93 | 93 | 86 | 75 | 63 | 54 |
| Rain (in) | 3.0 | 2.9 | 4.4 | 5.1 | 6.0 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 3.6 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.2 | 3.9 |
February is the driest month (2.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 93 °F). 6.0 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 93 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Poteau →
Questions about parks and trails in Poteau
How much of Poteau is conserved land?
31% 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.
Is there public land near Poteau?
20,956 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Poteau or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 342 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Poteau have?
Ahead of 56% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #56 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 Poteau 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 →