John Day Community Gardens
Park
11 acres0.3 mi of trail
Prospectors Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Trashbag · CC BY-SA 3.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in John Day
John Day has 50 acres of parks, 31 for every 1,000 residents
2.1 miles of mapped trail cross John Day, 0.9 per square mile of land. 87% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 68% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
10 acres · of 2.3 sq mi of land
Trails
2.1 mi
0.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
50 ac
31 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
87%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.1 mi
1.1 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is John Day?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does John Day have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, John Day is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of John Day’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical OR town 4% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · OR 0.8 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land31 acres of park per 1,000 residents (50 acres) · OR 7 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home87% of residents within a half mile of a park · OR 96% · U.S. 72%B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 68%
LessMore
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 John Day Community Gardens, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site
Managed by Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Who protects it
10 conserved acres
1% of John Day’s land. Who manages John Day’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service10 ac
Town or city1 ac
National Forest · 10 acState Historic or Cultural Area · 1 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malheur National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 10 | Open |
| Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site State Historic or Cultural Area | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in John Day
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in John Day
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Scenic views in John Day
2 scenic views without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Disc golf in John Day
John Day Disc Golf CourseCity of John Day
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Open to bikes · 1.6 miUnpaved · 2.1 mi
Prospectors Trail1.0 mi
Biking & sports
1.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.1 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
6Baseball
2Tennis
1Equestrian
1Basketball
1Skate park
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →4 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 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in John Day: May, June, August and September
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) | 9.2 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 40 | 44 | 51 | 57 | 67 | 75 | 87 | 86 | 77 | 62 | 47 | 38 |
| Rain (in) | 1.4 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.5 |
August is the driest month (0.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 1.9 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in John Day →
Questions about parks and trails in John Day
Where can I hike in John Day?
The longest trail networks: John Day Community Gardens, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of John Day is conserved land?
1% of its land, against a typical 4% for an Oregon town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on John Day’s trails?
John Day Community Gardens and 7th Street Park Complex don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in John Day?
1.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.1 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near John Day?
53,613 acres of parks and open public land lie inside John Day or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 59 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does John Day have?
Ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 John Day 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 →