Lake Cooley Park and Outdoor Education Center
Park
7 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
New Hope Farm · Photo: Bill Fitzpatrick · CC BY-SA 3.0C−Outdoors
Outdoors in Wellford
Wellford has 10 acres of parks, 2.7 for every 1,000 residents
0.3 miles of mapped trail cross Wellford, 0.1 per square mile of land. 59% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 16% of U.S. towns · #132 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
2 acres · of 5.3 sq mi of land
Trails
0.3 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
10 ac
2.7 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
59%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
1 boat launch
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Wellford have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Wellford is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns, #132 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 Wellford’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical SC town 1% · U.S. 4%DTrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · SC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land2.7 acres of park per 1,000 residents (10 acres) · SC 6 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home59% 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 16%
LessMore
South Carolina towns of 2,500+ (169)Ahead of 22%
Few South Carolina towns conserve much land (a typical one, 1%; the U.S., 4%), so Wellford’s under 1% is ahead of 15% of South Carolina towns, while its trails per square mile lead 28% of them.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Wellford. 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 Lake Cooley Park and Outdoor Education Center, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
2 conserved acres
under 1% of Wellford’s land. Who manages Wellford’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city2 ac
Local Park · 2 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Memory Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
Things to do
7 places to go in Wellford
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Wellford
5 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Wellford
1 dog park without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Wellford
1 boat launch without a name on the map.
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
6Soccer
3Baseball
1Pickleball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register
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 Wellford: 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) | 10.0 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 14.5 | 14.3 | 13.5 | 12.3 | 11.2 | 10.3 | 9.8 |
| High (°F) | 52 | 57 | 64 | 73 | 80 | 86 | 90 | 88 | 82 | 73 | 63 | 54 |
| Rain (in) | 4.2 | 3.7 | 4.6 | 4.2 | 3.9 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 3.9 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 4.5 |
October is the driest month (3.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 4.6 inches fall in March, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Wellford →
Next door
Wellford and its neighbors
Wellford has the second most mapped trails of the 3 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Wellford
Where can I hike in Wellford?
The longest trail networks: Lake Cooley Park and Outdoor Education Center, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Wellford is conserved land?
under 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 Wellford’s trails?
Lake Cooley Park and Outdoor Education Center and Memory Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Wellford?
2,167 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Wellford or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 10 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Wellford have?
Ahead of 16% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #132 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 Wellford 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 →