Cherokee National Forest
Managed by United States Forest Service
250 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Watauga Hydroelectric Project · Photo: Parker1297 · CC BY 3.0C−Outdoors
Outdoors in Valley Forge
12% of Valley Forge’s land is conserved: 252 acres
27% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 20% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
12%
252 acres · of 3.2 sq mi of land
Trails
0.0 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Near a park
27%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Valley Forge?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Valley Forge have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Valley Forge is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
C−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Valley Forge’s overall grade.
Conserved land12% of the land · typical TN town 1% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · TN 0.2 · U.S. 0.4DPark land0.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (0 acres) · TN 10 · U.S. 13DParks close to home27% 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 20%
LessMore
Few Tennessee towns conserve much land (a typical one, 1%; the U.S., 4%), so Valley Forge’s 12% is ahead of 92% of Tennessee towns, while its trails per square mile lead 5% of them.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Valley Forge. 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
252 conserved acres
12% of Valley Forge’s land. Who manages Valley Forge’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service252 ac
National Forest · 252 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cherokee National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 252 | Open |
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
When to get out
The best walking months in Valley Forge: April, 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 | 51 | 59 | 69 | 76 | 83 | 86 | 85 | 80 | 70 | 59 | 49 |
| Rain (in) | 4.0 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 5.4 | 4.3 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 4.0 |
October is the driest month (3.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 5.4 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Valley Forge →
Next door
Valley Forge 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valley Forge | 12% | under 0.1 | under 1 | 27% | C− |
| Hampton | 24% | 1.7 | 71 | 53% | A |
| Elizabethton | 3% | 0.4 | 14 | 74% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Valley Forge
How much of Valley Forge is conserved land?
12% 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 Valley Forge’s trails?
Cherokee National Forest doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Valley Forge?
3,744 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Valley Forge or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 2 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Valley Forge have?
Ahead of 20% 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 Valley Forge 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 →