Buffalo Valley School · Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0Baxter has 15 acres of parks, 11 for every 1,000 residents
81% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 26% of U.S. towns. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Baxter?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Baxter have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Baxter is ahead of 26% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
Few Tennessee towns conserve much land (a typical one, 1%; the U.S., 4%), so Baxter’s under 1% is ahead of 18% of Tennessee towns, while its trails per square mile lead 5% of them.
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.
8 conserved acres
under 1% of Baxter’s land. Who manages Baxter’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter Park Local Recreation Area | County | 8 | Open |
0.0 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 best walking months in Baxter: April to June
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 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 13.1 | 14.1 | 14.6 | 14.4 | 13.5 | 12.4 | 11.2 | 10.2 | 9.7 |
| High (°F) | 47 | 51 | 60 | 70 | 78 | 84 | 87 | 87 | 82 | 71 | 60 | 50 |
| Rain (in) | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.4 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 5.9 |
October is the driest month (3.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 5.9 inches fall in December, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Baxter →
Questions about parks and trails in Baxter
How much of Baxter is conserved land?
under 1% of its land, against a typical 1% for a Tennessee town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Baxter’s trails?
Baxter City Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Baxter?
9,354 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Baxter or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 15 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Baxter have?
Ahead of 26% 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 Baxter 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 →