Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: GreenvilleAvenue75206 · CC BY-SA 4.095% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 308 acres are parks and preserves, 8.4 per 1,000 residents. 2% of Farmers Branch’s land is conserved, about 181 acres.
Ahead of 69% of U.S. towns · #123 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Farmers Branch is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns, #123 of 642 in Texas. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
Few Texas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Farmers Branch’s 2% is ahead of 61% of Texas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 91% of them.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
The longest trail network is Sam Houston Trail Park, with 1.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
2% of Farmers Branch’s land. Who manages Farmers Branch’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 3 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Cox Memorial Local Park | Town or city | 34 | Open |
| Rawhide Local Park | Town or city | 32 | Open |
| Oran Good Local Park | Town or city | 23 | Open |
| Gussie Field Watterworth Local Park | Town or city | 20 | Open |
| Historical Local Park | Town or city | 18 | Open |
| Farmers Branch Local Park | Town or city | 13 | Open |
| Don Showman Local Park | Town or city | 10 | Open |
| Temple Trails Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Pepper Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Jaycee Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
1 public pool without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Plus 16 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Plus 12 dog parks without a name on the map.
1 picnic area without a name on the map.
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 country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 13 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
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) | 10.2 | 11.0 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 13.8 | 14.3 | 14.1 | 13.4 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.4 | 10.0 |
| High (°F) | 56 | 61 | 68 | 76 | 83 | 91 | 96 | 96 | 89 | 79 | 67 | 58 |
| Rain (in) | 2.6 | 2.9 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 4.7 | 4.0 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 4.7 | 2.9 | 3.1 |
July is the driest month (2.1 in) and August the warmest (highs of 96 °F). 4.7 inches fall in October, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 96 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Farmers Branch →
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farmers Branch | 2% | 1.2 | 8 | 95% | B+ |
| Dallas | 9% | 0.7 | 15 | 88% | A− |
| Carrollton | 9% | 0.4 | 16 | 93% | A− |
| Addison | 6% | 1.1 | 11 | 99%+ | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
The longest trail networks: Sam Houston Trail Park, 1.2 miles; Farmers Branch Historical Park, 0.4 miles; Oakbrook Ken Rymer Park, 0.3 miles; Rawhide Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
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.
Sam Houston Trail Park and Farmers Branch Historical Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
23 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.2 of painted or protected lanes, 15 of off-road paths and 8.0 of shoulders and shared lanes.
25,214 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Farmers Branch or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 341 of them inside the city line.
Ahead of 69% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #123 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.
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Farmers Branch neighbors.
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 →