Tony Houseman/Blue Elbow Swamp Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
935 acres0.5 mi of trail
Boardwalk
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Rmckee8 · CC BY-SA 4.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Orange
10% of Orange’s land is conserved: 1,382 acres
The biggest trail networks: Tony Houseman/Blue Elbow Swamp Wildlife Management Area (0.5 mi). 11 miles of mapped trail cross Orange, 0.5 per square mile of land. 361 acres are parks and preserves, 19 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 74% of U.S. towns · #97 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Conserved land
10%
1,382 acres · of 21.3 sq mi of land
Trails
11 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
361 ac
19 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
71%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
5
What kind of outdoors town is Orange?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Orange have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Orange is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns, #97 of 642 in Texas. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Orange’s overall grade.
Conserved land10% of the land · typical TX town 2% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (11 mi) · TX 0.2 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land19 acres of park per 1,000 residents (361 acres) · TX 9 · U.S. 13BParks close to home71% 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 74%
LessMore
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 85%
Few Texas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Orange’s 10% is ahead of 90% of Texas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 73% of them.
Water is 9% of Orange’s area (2 of 23 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 9%.
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 Tony Houseman/Blue Elbow Swamp WMA, with 0.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Memorial Field Park
Park
26 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Pinehurst City Park
Park
5 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Sunset Park
Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
1,382 conserved acres
10% of Orange’s land. Water is left out: Orange has 21.3 square miles of land and 2.1 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Orange’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Joint1,050 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits259 ac
Private owners257 ac
Town or city222 ac
State fish & wildlife26 ac
County4 ac
Other Easement · 1,309 acPrivate Recreation or Education · 257 acLocal Park · 111 acConservation Easement · 110 acState Conservation Area · 26 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 985 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 36 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shangri La Botanical Gardens Private Recreation or Education | Land trusts & nonprofits | 257 | Open |
| Lower Neches Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 26 | Restricted |
| Memorial Park Local Park | Town or city | 25 | Open |
| Riverside Boat Ramp Park Local Park | Town or city | 22 | Open |
| Northway Park Local Park | Town or city | 18 | Open |
| Levingston Park Local Park | Town or city | 16 | Open |
| Simmons Field Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Navy Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Lion's Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Johnson Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
3 places to go in Orange
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Orange
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Scenic views in Orange
Blue Elbow SwampIn Tony Houseman/Blue Elbow Swamp Wildlife Management Area
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 5 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.0 mi
Boardwalk0.1 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
10Baseball
6Tennis
1Skate park
1Multi-sport
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →5 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 68 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Orange: 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 | 13.7 | 14.1 | 13.9 | 13.2 | 12.3 | 11.4 | 10.6 | 10.2 |
| High (°F) | 62 | 66 | 72 | 78 | 85 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 89 | 81 | 71 | 64 |
| Rain (in) | 5.6 | 3.6 | 3.9 | 4.2 | 4.9 | 6.5 | 5.8 | 6.4 | 5.9 | 5.4 | 4.6 | 5.0 |
February is the driest month (3.6 in) and August the warmest (highs of 92 °F). 6.5 inches fall in June, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 92 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Orange →
Next door
Orange and its neighbors
Orange 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orange | 10% | 0.5 | 19 | 71% | B+ |
| Bridge City | 8% | 0.1 | 2 | 18% | C− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Orange
Where can I hike in Orange?
The longest trail networks: Tony Houseman/Blue Elbow Swamp Wildlife Management Area, 0.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Orange is conserved land?
10% 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 Orange’s trails?
Tony Houseman/Blue Elbow Swamp Wildlife Management Area and Memorial Field Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Orange?
2,935 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Orange or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 366 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Orange have?
Ahead of 74% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #97 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 Orange 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 →