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Canton, South Dakota 5Photo: AlexiusHoratius · CC BY-SA 3.0
BOutdoors
Outdoors in Canton

98% of residents live within a half mile of a park in Canton

1% of Canton’s land is conserved, about 28 acres. 1.2 miles of mapped trail cross Canton, 0.4 per square mile of land. 33 acres are parks and preserves, 11 per 1,000 residents.

Ahead of 58% of U.S. towns · #20 of 35 in South Dakota. What drives it

Conserved land
1%
28 acres · of 3.3 sq mi of land
Trails
1.2 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
33 ac
11 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
98%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
2

What kind of outdoors town is Canton?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Canton have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Canton is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns, #20 of 35 in South Dakota. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.

B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Canton’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 58%
LessMore
South Dakota towns of 2,500+ (35)Ahead of 44%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. 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.

1234
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.

Kennedy Park

Park
10 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Chautauqua Park

Park
9 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

West Ball Park

Park
7 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Stand Pipe Park

Park
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 6 parks & preserves
Kennedy Park10 acres
Directions
Chautauqua Park9 acres
West Ball Park7 acres
Directions
Stand Pipe Park2 acres
Directions
Jack Fox Park2 acres
South Mini Park1 acres
Who protects it

28 conserved acres

1% of Canton’s land. Who manages Canton’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Town or city27 ac
Local Park · 27 ac
The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Kennedy Park
Local Park
Town or city11Open
Chautauqua Park
Local Park
Town or city9Open
West Ball Park
Local Park
Town or city4Open
Stand Pipe Park
Local Park
Town or city2Open
Jack Fox Park
Local Park
Town or city1Open
Things to do

3 places to go in Canton

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Campgrounds in Canton
West Ball Park CampgroundFee · In West Ball Park
Directions
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
7Tracks
2Basketball
1Baseball
1Football

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

13 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).

History →
John Isakson HouseBuilding · listed 1984
About it
Old Main, Augustana AcademyBuilding · listed 1985
About it
Magnus O. Bergstrom HouseBuilding · listed 1994
About it
Skartvedt HouseBuilding · listed 2000
About it
J.W. Taylor HouseBuilding · listed 2000
About it
C.B. Kennedy MansionBuilding · listed 2001
About it
Rudolph-Parke HouseBuilding · listed 2001
About it
Canton Lutheran ChurchBuilding · listed 2002
About it
Dr. Andrew Anderson HouseBuilding · listed 2003
About it
Byrnes HouseBuilding · listed 2009
About it
Canton Carnegie LibraryBuilding · listed 2016
About it
Gale BuildingsBuilding · listed 2019
About it

1 more on the History page.

When to get out

The walking year in Canton

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.310.411.813.414.715.415.113.912.410.99.69.0
High (°F)263245597181858275614431
Rain (in)0.60.91.53.04.04.73.43.23.22.31.30.9

January is the driest month (0.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 4.7 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Canton →

Next door

Canton and its neighbors

Canton has the second most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

TownConserved
of land
Trail mi
per sq mi
Park acres
per 1,000
Near a park
½ mile
Outdoors
Canton1%0.41198%B
Canton Township— not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Canton

How much of Canton is conserved land?

1% of its land, against a typical 3% for a South Dakota town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.

Are dogs allowed on Canton’s trails?

Kennedy Park and Chautauqua Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Is there public land near Canton?

4,624 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Canton or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 33 of them inside the city line.

How much outdoors does Canton have?

Ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #20 of 35 in South Dakota. 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 Canton neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →