Mercedes Sports Complex & Walking Trail
Managed by City of Mercedes
39 acres1.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Akissforme · CC BY-SA 3.0COutdoors
Outdoors in Mercedes
Mercedes has 72 acres of parks, 4.3 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Mercedes Sports Complex & Walking Trail (1.5 mi), H.E.B. Park (0.5 mi). 2.8 miles of mapped trail cross Mercedes, 0.2 per square mile of land. 65% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 28% of U.S. towns · #438 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
35 acres · of 11.8 sq mi of land
Trails
2.8 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
72 ac
4.3 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
65%
of residents within ½ mile
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Mercedes have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Mercedes is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns, #438 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 Mercedes’ overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical TX town 2% · U.S. 4%C−Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · TX 0.2 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land4.3 acres of park per 1,000 residents (72 acres) · TX 9 · U.S. 13CParks close to home65% 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 28%
LessMore
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 32%
Few Texas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Mercedes’ 1% is ahead of 24% of Texas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 50% 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
The longest trail network is Mercedes Sports Complex & Walking Trail, with 1.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
35 conserved acres
1% of Mercedes’ land. Who manages Mercedes’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city67 ac
Local Park · 33 acConservation Easement · 33 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kennedy/Collier Park Local Park | Town or city | 19 | Open |
| HEB Civic Center Park Local Park | Town or city | 13 | Open |
| SM Hinojosa Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Las Flores del Valle Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
6 places to go in Mercedes
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Mercedes
5 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Community gardens in Mercedes
1 community garden without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
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
22Tennis
7Soccer
6Baseball
4Pickleball
2Basketball
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The walking year in Mercedes
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) | 10.7 | 11.2 | 11.9 | 12.7 | 13.4 | 13.8 | 13.6 | 13.1 | 12.3 | 11.5 | 10.8 | 10.5 |
| High (°F) | 71 | 76 | 81 | 87 | 91 | 95 | 97 | 98 | 93 | 88 | 80 | 73 |
| Rain (in) | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 2.8 | 2.2 | 1.8 | 5.1 | 2.8 | 1.4 | 1.1 |
February is the driest month (0.9 in) and August the warmest (highs of 98 °F). 5.1 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 98 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Mercedes →
Next door
Mercedes and its neighbors
Mercedes 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercedes | 1% | 0.2 | 4 | 65% | C |
| Weslaco | 2% | 0.8 | 5 | 58% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Mercedes
Where can I hike in Mercedes?
The longest trail networks: Mercedes Sports Complex & Walking Trail, 1.5 miles; H.E.B. Park, 0.5 miles; Kennedy Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Mercedes 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 Mercedes’ trails?
Mercedes Sports Complex & Walking Trail and H.E.B. Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Mercedes?
1,055 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Mercedes or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 72 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Mercedes have?
Ahead of 28% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #438 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 Mercedes 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 →