Emerald Park
Managed by River Road Park and Recreation District
9 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Wallace and Glenn Potter House · Photo: Visitor7 · CC BY-SA 3.0COutdoors
Outdoors in River Road
98% of residents live within a half mile of a park in River Road
17 acres are parks and preserves, 1.9 per 1,000 residents. 0.1 miles of mapped trail cross River Road, 0.1 per square mile of land. 1% of River Road’s land is conserved, about 11 acres.
Ahead of 31% of U.S. towns · #128 of 142 in Oregon. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
11 acres · of 1.8 sq mi of land
Trails
0.1 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
17 ac
1.9 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
98%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
6.0 mi
4.6 mi lanes · 0.8 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is River Road?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does River Road have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, River Road is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns, #128 of 142 in Oregon. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of River Road’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical OR town 4% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · OR 0.8 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land1.9 acres of park per 1,000 residents (17 acres) · OR 7 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home98% of residents within a half mile of a park · OR 96% · U.S. 72%A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 31%
LessMore
Oregon towns of 2,500+ (142)Ahead of 10%
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in River Road. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. 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
11 conserved acres
1% of River Road’s land. Who manages River Road’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city11 ac
Local Park · 11 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emerald Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| West Bank Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in River Road
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in River Road
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Community gardens in River Road
1 community garden without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Biking & sports
6.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
4.6 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
0.8 mi
off-road bike paths
0.7 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
2Baseball
1Basketball
1Beach volleyball
1Skate park
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Wallace and Glenn Potter HouseBuilding · listed 2007
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in River Road: April to 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 | 14.7 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 48 | 52 | 57 | 62 | 68 | 74 | 83 | 84 | 77 | 65 | 53 | 47 |
| Rain (in) | 6.1 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 3.7 | 2.6 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 3.4 | 6.2 | 7.4 |
July is the driest month (0.3 in) and August the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 7.4 inches fall in December, the wettest month. The climate in River Road →
Next door
River Road 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| River Road | 1% | 0.1 | 2 | 98% | C |
| Eugene | 12% | 1.6 | 14 | 99% | A |
| Santa Clara | 1% | 0.1 | 2 | 98% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in River Road
How much of River Road 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 River Road’s trails?
Emerald Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in River Road?
6.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 4.6 of painted or protected lanes, 0.8 of off-road paths and 0.7 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near River Road?
19,492 acres of parks and open public land lie inside River Road or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 17 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does River Road have?
Ahead of 31% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #128 of 142 in Oregon. 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 River Road 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 →