Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area
Managed by United States Forest Service
109 acres0.4 mi of trail
Riley Ranch Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
C−Outdoors
Outdoors in Saunders Lake
6% of Saunders Lake’s land is conserved: 111 acres
0.8 miles of mapped trail cross Saunders Lake, 0.3 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 20% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
111 acres · of 2.9 sq mi of land
Trails
0.8 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Near a park
under 1%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.3 mi
Lakes & rivers
2
1 boat launch
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Saunders Lake have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Saunders Lake is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Saunders Lake’s overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical OR town 4% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · OR 0.8 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land0.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (0 acres) · OR 7 · U.S. 13DParks close to home0% of residents within a half mile of a park · OR 96% · U.S. 72%D−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 20%
LessMore
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Saunders Lake. 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 D 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
The longest trail network is Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, with 0.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Siuslaw National Forest
Managed by United States Forest Service
111 acres0.2 mi of trail
430 OHV Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
111 conserved acres
6% of Saunders Lake’s land. Who manages Saunders Lake’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service111 ac
National Forest · 111 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Siuslaw National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 111 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Saunders Lake
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Saunders Lake
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
2 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Riley Ranch Trail0.3 mi
430 OHV Trail0.3 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
2.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.3 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
When to get out
The best walking months in Saunders Lake: May 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) | 9.3 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 54 | 54 | 55 | 57 | 60 | 64 | 66 | 67 | 66 | 62 | 57 | 53 |
| Rain (in) | 9.7 | 7.5 | 7.8 | 5.7 | 3.2 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 1.7 | 4.7 | 9.0 | 11.4 |
July is the driest month (0.4 in) and August the warmest (highs of 67 °F). 11.4 inches fall in December, the wettest month. The climate in Saunders Lake →
Questions about parks and trails in Saunders Lake
Where can I hike in Saunders Lake?
The longest trail networks: Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, 0.4 miles; Siuslaw National Forest, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Saunders Lake is conserved land?
6% 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 Saunders Lake’s trails?
Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area and Siuslaw National Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Saunders Lake?
2.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.3 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Saunders Lake?
9,082 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Saunders Lake or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 20 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Saunders Lake have?
Ahead of 20% 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 Saunders Lake 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 →