Photo: BrianHagan · CC BY-SA 4.0Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Crooks
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 21 acres are parks and preserves, 17 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 36% of U.S. towns. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Crooks?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Crooks have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Crooks is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Pick a walk
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Crooks Veterans Park
3 places to go in Crooks
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
1.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
The walking year in Crooks
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 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 25 | 31 | 43 | 57 | 69 | 80 | 83 | 81 | 74 | 60 | 43 | 30 |
| Rain (in) | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 2.9 | 3.7 | 4.4 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 2.9 | 2.2 | 1.2 | 0.8 |
January is the driest month (0.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Crooks →
Crooks and its neighbors
Crooks 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crooks | under 1% | under 0.1 | 17 | 99%+ | C+ |
| Benton 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 Crooks
How much of Crooks is conserved land?
under 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 Crooks’ trails?
Sunset Park and New Hope Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Crooks?
1.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.1 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Crooks?
2,902 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Crooks or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 21 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Crooks have?
Ahead of 36% 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 Crooks neighbors.
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 →