Bessemer Lake Park
Managed by Bessemer Borough
16 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Nyttend · Public domainA−Outdoors
Outdoors in Bessemer
Bessemer has 40 acres of parks, 46 for every 1,000 residents
91% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1.1 miles of mapped trail cross Bessemer, 0.7 per square mile of land. 3% of Bessemer’s land is conserved, about 34 acres.
Ahead of 79% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
34 acres · of 1.7 sq mi of land
Trails
1.1 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
40 ac
46 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
91%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Bessemer?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Bessemer have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Bessemer is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; park acres per resident rank highest, conserved land lowest.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Bessemer’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land46 acres of park per 1,000 residents (40 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home91% of residents within a half mile of a park · PA 73% · U.S. 72%B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 79%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Bessemer’s 3% is ahead of 23% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 65% of them.
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 Bessemer Lake Park, with 0.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Kennedy Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
34 conserved acres
3% of Bessemer’s land. Who manages Bessemer’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Other or Unknown Local Government34 ac
Not recorded31 ac
Local Park · 63 acLocal Recreation Area · 2 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bessemer Lake Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 63 | Open |
| Bessemer Playground Local Recreation Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 2 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Bessemer
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Bessemer
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
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
1Baseball
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Bessemer: April, May, 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) | 9.5 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 35 | 38 | 48 | 61 | 72 | 80 | 83 | 82 | 76 | 63 | 51 | 40 |
| Rain (in) | 3.0 | 2.4 | 3.2 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.2 | 2.9 | 3.1 |
February is the driest month (2.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.5 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Bessemer →
Questions about parks and trails in Bessemer
Where can I hike in Bessemer?
The longest trail networks: Bessemer Lake Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Bessemer is conserved land?
3% of its land, against a typical 8% for a Pennsylvania town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Bessemer’s trails?
Bessemer Lake Park and Kennedy Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Bessemer?
4,868 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Bessemer or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 40 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Bessemer have?
Ahead of 79% 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 Bessemer 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 →