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Decatur June 2018 03 (N Trinity Street)Photo: Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0
B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Decatur

Decatur has 144 acres of parks, 19 for every 1,000 residents

1.2 miles of mapped trail cross Decatur, 0.1 per square mile of land. 2% of Decatur’s land is conserved, about 138 acres. 63% of residents live within a half mile of a park.

Ahead of 45% of U.S. towns · #297 of 642 in Texas. What drives it

Conserved land
2%
138 acres · of 9.3 sq mi of land
Trails
1.2 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
144 ac
19 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
63%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
3
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Decatur have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Decatur is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns, #297 of 642 in Texas. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.

B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Decatur’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 45%
LessMore
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 54%

Few Texas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Decatur’s 2% is ahead of 60% of Texas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 34% of them.

How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B−. 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.

1234
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk

Pick a walk

The longest trail network is Kenny Renshaw Park, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Kenny Renshaw Park

Park
13 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Hollis & Sue Jones Park

Park
25 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Harmon Park

Park
5 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Melba Doyle Park

Park
5 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 6 parks & preserves
Kenny Renshaw Park13 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Directions
Harmon Park5 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Directions
Hollis & Sue Jones Park25 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Directions
Melba Doyle Park5 acres
Directions
Louida "Big Mama" Willis Park1 acres
Wise County Veteran's Park1 acres
Who protects it

138 conserved acres

2% of Decatur’s land. Who manages Decatur’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Town or city275 ac
Local Park · 138 acConservation Easement · 137 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 13 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Reunion Grounds
Local Park
Town or city89Open
Hollis & Sue Jones Park
Local Park
Town or city24Open
Kenny Renshaw Park
Local Park
Town or city16Open
Harmon Park
Local Park
Town or city4Open
Melba Doyle Park
Local Park
Town or city4Open
Louida "Big Mama" Willis Park
Local Park
Town or city1Open
Wise County Veterans Park
Local Park
Town or city1Open
Things to do

11 places to go in Decatur

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Playgrounds in Decatur

8 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.

Trails & water

3 lakes & rivers

Lakes & rivers tap for directions
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
10Golf
9Baseball
8Tennis
6Soccer
3Basketball
3Football
1Skate park
1Beach volleyball

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

4 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 26 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.

History →
Administration Building, Decatur Baptist CollegeBuilding · listed 1971
About it
Waggoner MansionBuilding · listed 1974
About it
Wise County CourthouseBuilding · listed 1976
About it
Texas Tourist CampBuilding · listed 1997
About it
When to get out

April is the best month for walking in Decatur

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)10.211.011.913.013.914.314.113.412.311.310.410.0
High (°F)566068768391959688776657
Rain (in)1.92.43.33.04.43.92.22.63.23.92.52.3

January is the driest month (1.9 in) and August the warmest (highs of 96 °F). 4.4 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 96 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Decatur →

Questions about parks and trails in Decatur

Where can I hike in Decatur?

The longest trail networks: Kenny Renshaw Park, 0.3 miles; Hollis & Sue Jones Park, 0.1 miles; Harmon Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Decatur is conserved land?

2% of its land, against a typical 2% for a Texas town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.

Are dogs allowed on Decatur’s trails?

Kenny Renshaw Park and Hollis & Sue Jones Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Is there public land near Decatur?

14,423 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Decatur or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 144 of them inside the city line.

How much outdoors does Decatur have?

Ahead of 45% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #297 of 642 in Texas. 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 Decatur neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →