South Park
Park
4 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Nicolas Henderson from Coppell, Texas · CC BY 2.0COutdoors
Outdoors in Merkel
Merkel has 24 acres of parks, 8.8 for every 1,000 residents
94% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.2 miles of mapped trail cross Merkel, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 30% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
0 acres · of 2.8 sq mi of land
Trails
0.2 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
24 ac
8.8 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
94%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Merkel?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Merkel have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Merkel is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Merkel’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical TX town 2% · U.S. 4%DTrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · TX 0.2 · U.S. 0.4CPark land8.8 acres of park per 1,000 residents (24 acres) · TX 9 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home94% of residents within a half mile of a park · TX 69% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 30%
LessMore
Few Texas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Merkel’s under 1% is ahead of 6% of Texas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 23% of them.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Merkel. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on 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 South Park, with 0.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Things to do
3 places to go in Merkel
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Merkel
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
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
1Football
1Basketball
1Tennis
1Beach volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
April is the best month for walking in Merkel
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 | 12.9 | 13.8 | 14.3 | 14.1 | 13.3 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.4 | 10.0 |
| High (°F) | 58 | 62 | 70 | 79 | 86 | 92 | 96 | 95 | 88 | 78 | 67 | 58 |
| Rain (in) | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 3.0 | 2.4 | 1.4 | 1.1 |
January is the driest month (1.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 96 °F). 3.3 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 96 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Merkel →
Questions about parks and trails in Merkel
Where can I hike in Merkel?
The longest trail networks: South Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Merkel 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 Merkel’s trails?
South Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Merkel?
77 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Merkel or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 24 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Merkel have?
Ahead of 30% 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 Merkel 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 →