Pearson Park
Park
5 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0DOutdoors
Outdoors in Sparta
Sparta has 10 acres of parks, 2.1 for every 1,000 residents
51% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 10% of U.S. towns · #154 of 177 in Tennessee. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
10 acres · of 6.7 sq mi of land
Trails
0.0 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
10 ac
2.1 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
51%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Sparta?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Sparta have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Sparta is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns, #154 of 177 in Tennessee. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park comes closest.
D
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Sparta’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical TN town 1% · U.S. 4%C−Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · TN 0.2 · U.S. 0.4DPark land2.1 acres of park per 1,000 residents (10 acres) · TN 10 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home51% of residents within a half mile of a park · TN 42% · U.S. 72%C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 10%
LessMore
Tennessee towns of 2,500+ (177)Ahead of 13%
Few Tennessee towns conserve much land (a typical one, 1%; the U.S., 4%), so Sparta’s under 1% is ahead of 14% of Tennessee towns, while its trails per square mile lead 5% of them.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Sparta. 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
10 conserved acres
under 1% of Sparta’s land. Who manages Sparta’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city8 ac
County2 ac
Local Park · 8 acLocal Recreation Area · 2 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pearson Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Recreation Area | County | 2 | Open |
| Carter Street Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Sparta
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Sparta
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
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
7Baseball
5Tennis
4Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →4 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Sparta: 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 | 52 | 61 | 71 | 78 | 85 | 88 | 87 | 82 | 72 | 60 | 51 |
| Rain (in) | 5.2 | 5.1 | 5.5 | 5.4 | 4.8 | 5.4 | 5.1 | 4.0 | 4.2 | 3.2 | 4.4 | 6.0 |
October is the driest month (3.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 6.0 inches fall in December, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Sparta →
Questions about parks and trails in Sparta
How much of Sparta 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 Sparta’s trails?
Pearson Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Sparta?
3,304 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Sparta or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 10 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Sparta have?
Ahead of 10% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #154 of 177 in Tennessee. 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 Sparta 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 →