Few parks or trails are on the map in Van
44% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 15 acres are parks and preserves, 5.3 per 1,000 residents. 0.4 miles of mapped trail cross Van, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 22% of U.S. towns · #496 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
How much outdoors does Van have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Van is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns, #496 of 642 in Texas. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park comes closest.
Few Texas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Van’s 1% is ahead of 31% of Texas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 34% of them.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
15 conserved acres
1% of Van’s land. Who manages Van’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Van Sports Complex Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 15 | Open |
1 lakes & rivers
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
April is the best month for walking in Van
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) | 57 | 61 | 68 | 76 | 82 | 90 | 94 | 94 | 88 | 78 | 66 | 58 |
| Rain (in) | 3.6 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 4.0 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 3.4 | 4.9 | 3.6 | 4.4 |
July is the driest month (2.6 in) and August the warmest (highs of 94 °F). 4.9 inches fall in October, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 94 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Van →
Questions about parks and trails in Van
How much of Van 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.
Is there public land near Van?
164 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Van or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 15 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Van have?
Ahead of 22% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #496 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 Van neighbors.
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 →