Keneteso Park
Park
76 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0COutdoors
Outdoors in Gainesville
Gainesville has 199 acres of parks, 11 for every 1,000 residents
0.5 miles of mapped trail cross Gainesville. 1% of Gainesville’s land is conserved, about 162 acres. 68% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 31% of U.S. towns · #420 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
162 acres · of 19.3 sq mi of land
Trails
0.5 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
199 ac
11 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
68%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.5 mi
1.5 mi paths
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Gainesville have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Gainesville is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns, #420 of 642 in Texas. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Gainesville’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical TX town 2% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · TX 0.2 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land11 acres of park per 1,000 residents (199 acres) · TX 9 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home68% of residents within a half mile of a park · TX 69% · U.S. 72%B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 31%
LessMore
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 35%
Few Texas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Gainesville’s 1% is ahead of 43% of Texas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 15% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C 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.
Jaycee Park
Park
28 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 10 parks & preserves
Keneteso Park76 acres
Jaycee Park28 acres
Edison Park22 acres
DirectionsLittle League Park15 acres
DirectionsLeonard Park14 acres
DirectionsMoffett Park4 acres
DirectionsDepot Park2 acres
Medal of Honor Park1 acres
DirectionsTom Thumb Park1 acres
Farmers Market1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
162 conserved acres
1% of Gainesville’s land. Who manages Gainesville’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city321 ac
Not recorded1 ac
Conservation Easement · 161 acLocal Park · 161 acLocal Recreation Area · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1 acre is a conservation easement, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keneteso Park Local Park | Town or city | 62 | Open |
| Leonard Park & Frank Buck Zoo Local Park | Town or city | 48 | Open |
| Edison Park Local Park | Town or city | 22 | Open |
| Moffett Park Local Park | Town or city | 11 | Open |
| Home Grown Hero Walking Trail Local Park | Town or city | 10 | Open |
| Jaycee Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Heritage Park North Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| BP Douglas Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Pecan Creek Park Local Park | Not recorded | 1 | Open |
| Forsythe Transportation Skate Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 1 | Open |
2 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
15 places to go in Gainesville
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Gainesville
Gainesville City Swimming PoolIn Leonard Park
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Gainesville
10 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Gainesville
1 dog park without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Picnic areas in Gainesville
2 picnic areas without a name on the map.
Community gardens in Gainesville
1 community garden without a name on the map.
Biking & sports
1.5 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.5 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
14Baseball
14Tennis
6Tracks
3Basketball
2Football
1Softball
1Skate park
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →5 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 35 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
April is the best month for walking in Gainesville
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) | 10.1 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 13.9 | 14.4 | 14.2 | 13.4 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.4 | 9.9 |
| High (°F) | 54 | 58 | 66 | 74 | 82 | 90 | 95 | 95 | 87 | 76 | 65 | 56 |
| Rain (in) | 2.0 | 2.4 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 5.4 | 4.1 | 2.7 | 2.6 | 3.4 | 4.3 | 2.8 | 2.8 |
January is the driest month (2.0 in) and August the warmest (highs of 95 °F). 5.4 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 95 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Gainesville →
Next door
Gainesville and its neighbors
Gainesville has the second most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gainesville | 1% | under 0.1 | 11 | 68% | C |
| Lindsay | 1% | 0.5 | 12 | 73% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Gainesville
How much of Gainesville is conserved land?
1% 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 Gainesville’s trails?
Keneteso Park and Jaycee Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Gainesville?
1.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.5 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Gainesville?
5,322 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Gainesville or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 199 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Gainesville have?
Ahead of 31% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #420 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 Gainesville 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 →