Port Jefferson History and Nature Center
Park
17 acres0.4 mi of trail
Bottomland Forest Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Jefferson
Few parks or trails are on the map in Jefferson
2.4 miles of mapped trail cross Jefferson, 0.5 per square mile of land. 47% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 27 acres are parks and preserves, 13 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 37% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
3 acres · of 4.4 sq mi of land
Trails
2.4 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
27 ac
13 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
47%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Jefferson?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Jefferson have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Jefferson is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Jefferson’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical TX town 2% · U.S. 4%DTrails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · TX 0.2 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land13 acres of park per 1,000 residents (27 acres) · TX 9 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home47% of residents within a half mile of a park · TX 69% · U.S. 72%C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 37%
LessMore
Few Texas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Jefferson’s under 1% is ahead of 12% of Texas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 73% 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.
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 Port Jefferson History and Nature Center, with 0.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Port Jefferson History & Nature Center
Park
6 acres0.2 mi of trail
Wharf Street Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Who protects it
3 conserved acres
under 1% of Jefferson’s land. Who manages Jefferson’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city3 ac
Conservation Easement · 3 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 3 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
Things to do
4 places to go in Jefferson
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Jefferson
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Jefferson
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
2 named trails
Named trails
Unpaved · 0.7 mi
Wharf Street Trail0.2 mi
Bottomland Forest Trail0.1 mi
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
5Baseball
2Football
1Basketball
1Tracks
1Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →18 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 42 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Alley-Carlson HouseBuilding · listed 1969
About itEpperson-McNutt HouseBuilding · listed 1969
About itExcelsior HotelBuilding · listed 1969
About itOld U.S. Post Office and Courts BuildingBuilding · listed 1969
About itPresbyterian ManseBuilding · listed 1969
About itJefferson PlayhouseBuilding · listed 1969
About itFreeman Plantation HouseBuilding · listed 1969
About itSedberry HouseBuilding · listed 1970
About itBirge-Beard HouseBuilding · listed 1970
About itCapt. William E. Singleton HouseBuilding · listed 1970
About itCapt. William Perry HouseBuilding · listed 1970
About itPlanters Bank BuildingBuilding · listed 1971
About it6 more on the History page.
When to get out
April is the best month for walking in Jefferson
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 | 13.3 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.4 | 10.0 |
| High (°F) | 57 | 61 | 69 | 77 | 84 | 90 | 94 | 94 | 88 | 78 | 67 | 59 |
| Rain (in) | 4.1 | 4.0 | 4.9 | 4.5 | 4.9 | 4.3 | 3.5 | 2.9 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 3.9 | 4.8 |
August is the driest month (2.9 in) and the warmest (highs of 94 °F). 4.9 inches fall in March, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 94 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Jefferson →
Questions about parks and trails in Jefferson
Where can I hike in Jefferson?
The longest trail networks: Port Jefferson History and Nature Center, 0.4 miles; Port Jefferson History & Nature Center, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Jefferson is conserved land?
under 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 Jefferson’s trails?
Port Jefferson History and Nature Center and Port Jefferson History & Nature Center don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Jefferson?
4,080 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Jefferson or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 27 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Jefferson have?
Ahead of 37% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Jefferson 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 →