Foster Park
Park
32 acres0.5 mi of trail
Nature trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Union Downtown Historic District (Boundary Increase) · Photo: Bill Fitzpatrick · CC BY-SA 3.0C−Outdoors
Outdoors in Union
Union has 55 acres of parks, 6.7 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Foster Park (0.5 mi). 0.6 miles of mapped trail cross Union, 0.1 per square mile of land. 55% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 24% of U.S. towns · #108 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
51 acres · of 8.1 sq mi of land
Trails
0.6 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
55 ac
6.7 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
55%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Union?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Union have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Union is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns, #108 of 169 in South Carolina. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park comes closest.
C−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Union’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical SC town 1% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · SC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4CPark land6.7 acres of park per 1,000 residents (55 acres) · SC 6 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home55% of residents within a half mile of a park · SC 52% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 24%
LessMore
South Carolina towns of 2,500+ (169)Ahead of 36%
Few South Carolina towns conserve much land (a typical one, 1%; the U.S., 4%), so Union’s 1% is ahead of 42% of South Carolina towns, while its trails per square mile lead 36% of them.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Union. 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
The longest trail network is Foster Park, with 0.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
51 conserved acres
1% of Union’s land. Who manages Union’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city50 ac
Local Park · 44 acLocal Recreation Area · 6 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Veterans Memorial Park Local Park | Town or city | 42 | Open |
| City Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| James F Moorer Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
Things to do
7 places to go in Union
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Union
7 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
2 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
9Baseball
7Tennis
2Basketball
1Softball
1Football
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →18 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 5 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Herndon TerraceBuilding · listed 1970
About itJudge Thomas Dawkins HouseBuilding · listed 1973
About itMerridunBuilding · listed 1974
About itEpiscopal Church of the NativityBuilding · listed 1974
About itUnion County JailBuilding · listed 1974
About itGov. Thomas B. Jeter HouseBuilding · listed 1974
About itCulp HouseBuilding · listed 1975
About itMeng HouseBuilding · listed 1976
About itCentral Graded SchoolBuilding · listed 1978
About itSouth Street-South Church Street Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1983
About itFair Forest HotelBuilding · listed 1984
About itEast Main Street-Douglass Heights Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1989
About it6 more on the History page.
When to get out
The best walking months in Union: April and May
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) | 10.1 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 14.5 | 14.3 | 13.4 | 12.3 | 11.2 | 10.3 | 9.8 |
| High (°F) | 53 | 58 | 65 | 74 | 81 | 88 | 91 | 89 | 83 | 74 | 63 | 56 |
| Rain (in) | 3.9 | 3.5 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 3.5 | 4.2 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 3.6 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 4.2 |
October is the driest month (3.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 91 °F). 4.2 inches fall in March, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 91 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Union →
Next door
Union and its neighbors
Union has the second most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union | 1% | 0.1 | 7 | 55% | C− |
| Monarch Mill | under 1% | 0.2 | 7 | 35% | C− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Union
Where can I hike in Union?
The longest trail networks: Foster Park, 0.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Union is conserved land?
1% of its land, against a typical 1% for a South Carolina town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Union’s trails?
Foster Park and City Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Union?
34,278 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Union or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 55 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Union have?
Ahead of 24% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #108 of 169 in South Carolina. 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 Union 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 →