Flippen Park
Park
2 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Highland Park
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Highland Park
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 4.8 miles of mapped trail cross Highland Park, 2.1 per square mile of land. 4% of Highland Park’s land is conserved, about 63 acres.
Ahead of 84% of U.S. towns · #49 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
63 acres · of 2.2 sq mi of land
Trails
4.8 mi
2.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
76 ac
8.6 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.3 mi
0.3 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
3
What kind of outdoors town is Highland Park?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Highland Park have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Highland Park is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns, #49 of 642 in Texas. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Highland Park’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical TX town 2% · U.S. 4%BTrails2.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (5 mi) · TX 0.2 · U.S. 0.4APark land8.6 acres of park per 1,000 residents (76 acres) · TX 9 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · TX 69% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 84%
LessMore
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 93%
Few Texas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Highland Park’s 4% is ahead of 73% of Texas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 97% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A. 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
The longest trail network is Flippen Park, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Lakeside Park
Park
23 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 12 parks & preserves
Flippen Park2 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Dyckman Park1 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Conner Park6 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsLockhart Park1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Jester Park1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsLakeside Park23 acres
Davis Park7 acres
DirectionsFairfax Park3 acres
Prather Park3 acres
DirectionsKaty Trail Greenbelt1 acres
DirectionsAbbott Park1 acres
DirectionsHackberry Creek Park1 acres
Who protects it
63 conserved acres
4% of Highland Park’s land. Who manages Highland Park’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city124 ac
Local Park · 62 acConservation Easement · 62 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeside Park / Exall Lake Local Park | Town or city | 12 | Open |
| Davis Park Local Park | Town or city | 10 | Open |
| Hackberry Creek Park Local Park | Town or city | 7 | Open |
| Lakeside Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Armstrong Parkway Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Church Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Prather Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Fairfax Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Flippen Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Abbott Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
4 places to go in Highland Park
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Highland Park
Highland Park Swimming PoolIn Davis Park
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Highland Park
3 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
1.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.3 mi
off-road bike paths
1.0 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
23Tennis
9Golf
2Basketball
1Multi-sport
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register, one a National Historic Landmark
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 4 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
April is the best month for walking in Highland Park
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) | 57 | 61 | 68 | 76 | 83 | 91 | 96 | 96 | 89 | 79 | 67 | 58 |
| Rain (in) | 2.7 | 2.9 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4.8 | 3.9 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 4.7 | 2.9 | 3.2 |
July is the driest month (2.0 in) and August the warmest (highs of 96 °F). 4.8 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 96 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Highland Park →
Next door
Highland Park and its neighbors
Highland Park has the 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highland Park | 4% | 2.1 | 9 | 99%+ | A− |
| University Park | 2% | 0.8 | 3 | 99% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Highland Park
Where can I hike in Highland Park?
The longest trail networks: Flippen Park, 0.3 miles; Conner Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Highland Park is conserved land?
4% 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 Highland Park’s trails?
Flippen Park and Lakeside Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Highland Park?
1.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.3 of off-road paths and 1.0 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Highland Park?
19,509 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Highland Park or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 82 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Highland Park have?
Ahead of 84% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #49 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 Highland Park 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 →