Highlands Sports Complex
Park
16 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
COutdoors
Outdoors in Highlands
Highlands has 40 acres of parks, 6.4 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Highlands Sports Complex (0.6 mi). 1% of Highlands’ land is conserved, about 39 acres. 1.2 miles of mapped trail cross Highlands, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 35% of U.S. towns · #381 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
39 acres · of 4.9 sq mi of land
Trails
1.2 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
40 ac
6.4 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
66%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Highlands have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Highlands is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns, #381 of 642 in Texas. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Highlands’ overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical TX town 2% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · TX 0.2 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land6.4 acres of park per 1,000 residents (40 acres) · TX 9 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home66% 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 35%
LessMore
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 41%
Few Texas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Highlands’ 1% is ahead of 41% of Texas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 51% of them.
Water is 25% of Highlands’ area (2 of 7 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 1%.
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
The longest trail network is Highlands Sports Complex, with 0.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Highlands Community Center
Park
11 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Stratford Park
Park
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
39 conserved acres
1% of Highlands’ land. Water is left out: Highlands has 4.9 square miles of land and 1.6 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Highlands’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County60 ac
Other state land18 ac
Conservation Easement · 23 acLocal Recreation Area · 16 acRecreation or Education Easement · 15 acLocal Park · 14 acState Park · 9 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highlands Sports Complex Local Recreation Area | County | 16 | Open |
| Highlands Park Local Park | County | 10 | Open |
| Kaminski Park State Park | Other state land | 9 | Open |
| Stratford Park Local Park | County | 4 | Open |
Trails & water
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Avenue C0.1 mi
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
6Baseball
4Tennis
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Highlands: April and May
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) | 10.4 | 11.1 | 11.9 | 12.9 | 13.6 | 14.0 | 13.9 | 13.2 | 12.3 | 11.4 | 10.6 | 10.2 |
| High (°F) | 63 | 67 | 73 | 78 | 85 | 90 | 92 | 93 | 89 | 82 | 72 | 65 |
| Rain (in) | 4.4 | 3.2 | 3.7 | 4.0 | 5.3 | 5.9 | 4.7 | 5.7 | 5.5 | 5.4 | 4.3 | 4.5 |
February is the driest month (3.2 in) and August the warmest (highs of 93 °F). 5.9 inches fall in June, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 93 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Highlands →
Next door
Highlands and its neighbors
Highlands has the second most mapped trails of the 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highlands | 1% | 0.2 | 6 | 66% | C |
| Channelview | 1% | 0.1 | 2 | 61% | C− |
| Baytown | 5% | 0.5 | 11 | 80% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Highlands
Where can I hike in Highlands?
The longest trail networks: Highlands Sports Complex, 0.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Highlands 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 Highlands’ trails?
Highlands Sports Complex and Highlands Community Center don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Highlands?
10,464 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Highlands or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 40 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Highlands have?
Ahead of 35% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #381 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 Highlands 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 →