Few parks or trails are on the map in Central
26% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 4% of U.S. towns. What drives it
How much outdoors does Central have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Central is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park comes closest.
Few Tennessee towns conserve much land (a typical one, 1%; the U.S., 4%), so Central’s under 1% is ahead of 6% 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.
1 lakes & rivers
The best walking months in Central: April to June and August
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) | 9.9 | 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 | 52 | 60 | 71 | 78 | 84 | 87 | 86 | 81 | 71 | 60 | 50 |
| Rain (in) | 3.7 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 5.2 | 4.2 | 3.1 | 3.0 | 3.2 | 3.9 |
October is the driest month (3.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 5.2 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Central →
Central and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central | under 1% | under 0.1 | under 1 | 26% | D− |
| Elizabethton | 3% | 0.4 | 14 | 74% | B |
| Johnson City | 4% | 0.7 | 11 | 43% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Central
How much of Central 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.
Is there public land near Central?
3,547 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Central or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), almost none of it inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Central have?
Ahead of 4% 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 Central 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 →