Usk’s biggest
The Island
Playing field
3.0 ha (7 acres)0.6 km of path
5 minto walk all 0.6 km of path
4 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Usk
Playground
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0C−Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Usk · parks, paths & countryside
Parks and walks in Usk
The Brecon Beacons National Park begins 3.8 mi from the village’s edge. Parks and playing fields in Usk add up to 3.5 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. 12 km of footpaths run through the village and the kilometre around it, 1.3 for every square kilometre. Usk grades C− for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
3.5 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
56%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
12 km
1.3 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Brecon Beacons starts 3.8 mi out, past the 5 km
Character
What kind of outdoors village is Usk?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Countryside both waysBrecon Beacons starts 3.8 mi north-west, Wye Valley 5.2 mi east.Room to roam3.5 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 76% of UK towns.Few mapped footpaths1.3 km of path per km²; the typical UK town has 3.0.
Usk’s strongest suit is two protected landscapes close by, followed by plenty of park space. Where it falls short is footpaths.
Outdoors grade
Usk grades C− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Usk, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
C−
Better than 16% of UK towns48th of 60 UK villages its size
Public green space3.5 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
76out of
100
100
A park within a walk56%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
17out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · Brecon Beacons begins just past 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths1.3 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
13out of
100
100
The sea0%of the area within 5 km · Inland
42out of
100
100
Graded, never part of the overall grade (like History and Civic life). It measures what is mapped: OS Open Greenspace leaves out woodland and open-access land that isn’t a park, and OpenStreetMap’s rural paths are more complete in some places than others.
Villages its size
Usk is 48th of 60 UK villages its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 2,200 to 2,400 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Outdoors score: the share of UK towns each one beats
Footpath, km per km²
Usk1.3
Villages its size2.1
Gwent towns2.7
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Usk3.5
Villages its size1.8
Gwent towns2.5
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Usk56%
Villages its size73%
Gwent towns85%
All UK towns83%
Against villages its size, Usk stands out most for park space per resident: only 9 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on path per km², where 44 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radford Semele Warwickshire | A | 12.3 | 100% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 2 | Westcott Surrey | A | 1.8 | 86% | 5.5 | 78% |
| 3 | Harlington Bedfordshire | A− | 2.7 | 100% | 2.7 | 16% |
| 4 | Millbrook Cornwall | A− | 2 | 100% | 1.1 | 19% |
| 5 | Picket Piece Hampshire | A− | 3.9 | 100% | 1.3 | 33% |
| 6 | Cannington Somerset | A− | 2.8 | 88% | 3.2 | 3% |
| 7 | Clare Suffolk | A− | 7.7 | 100% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 8 | Y Felinheli Gwynedd | B+ | 4.9 | 65% | 1.9 | 10% |
| 9 | Acle Norfolk | B+ | 1.6 | 89% | 3.1 | 43% |
| 10 | Hall Green West Yorkshire | B+ | 7.5 | 82% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 11 | Tisbury Wiltshire | B+ | 1.5 | 86% | 2.9 | 100% |
| 12 | Bowness-on-Windermere Cumbria | B | 1.7 | 76% | 2.8 | 100% |
| 13 | Pen-y-fai Mid Glamorgan | B | 3.8 | 100% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 14 | Creech St Michael Somerset | B− | 1.2 | 88% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 15 | Dormansland Surrey | B− | 2.5 | 70% | 2.3 | 33% |
| 16 | Upper Halliford Surrey | B− | 5.1 | 44% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 17 | Bickershaw Greater Manchester | B− | 5 | 13% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 18 | Bassingbourn Cambridgeshire | B− | 3.8 | 85% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 19 | Wiveliscombe Somerset | B− | 2.3 | 100% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 20 | Debenham Suffolk | C+ | 1 | 100% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 21 | Osbaldwick North Yorkshire | C+ | 1.9 | 70% | 5 | 0% |
| 22 | Delph Greater Manchester | C+ | 0.7 | 72% | 3.9 | 17% |
| 23 | Padstow Cornwall | C+ | 0.6 | 33% | 2.5 | 37% |
| 24 | Bramford Suffolk | C+ | 3.2 | 76% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 25 | Mickleton Gloucestershire | C+ | 2.2 | 52% | 2.1 | 45% |
| 26 | Boughton under Blean Kent | C+ | 2.7 | 24% | 2.5 | 18% |
| 27 | Cold Ash Berkshire | C+ | 1.5 | 7% | 3.1 | 60% |
| 28 | Bishopsteignton Devon | C | 3 | 62% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 29 | Stanton Suffolk | C | 2.6 | 87% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 30 | Caistor Lincolnshire | C | 2.8 | 39% | 1.3 | 33% |
| 31 | Hawkesbury Warwickshire | C | 1 | 78% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 32 | Woolavington Somerset | C | 1.6 | 100% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 33 | Dearham Cumbria | C | 0.6 | 72% | 1.4 | 6% |
| 34 | West Rainton County Durham | C | 2.1 | 73% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 35 | Tatworth Somerset | C | 1.3 | 71% | 1.7 | 44% |
| 36 | Whaddon Wiltshire | C | 2.6 | 55% | 1.3 | 10% |
| 37 | Wardley Greater Manchester | C− | 0.6 | 88% | 3 | 0% |
| 38 | Stanford in the Vale Oxfordshire | C− | 1.3 | 100% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 39 | Credenhill Herefordshire | C− | 1.5 | 87% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 40 | Roche Cornwall | C− | 2.8 | 81% | 1 | 0% |
| 41 | Hathern Leicestershire | C− | 1.8 | 50% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 42 | Knowsley Merseyside | C− | 3.1 | 77% | 1 | 0% |
| 43 | Creigiau South Glamorgan | C− | 1.7 | 85% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 44 | Kings Sutton Northamptonshire | C− | 1.8 | 79% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 45 | Reepham Norfolk | C− | 2.3 | 66% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 46 | Coates and Eastrea Cambridgeshire | C− | 0.9 | 100% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 47 | Goxhill Lincolnshire | C− | 1.5 | 69% | 0.5 | 0% |
| 48 | Usk Gwent | C− | 3.5 | 56% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 49 | Netherton (Wakefield) West Yorkshire | D | 0.7 | 27% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 50 | Scholes (Leeds) West Yorkshire | D | 0 | 0% | 5.5 | 0% |
| 51 | St Stephen Cornwall | D | 1.2 | 88% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 52 | Bicknacre Essex | D | 1 | 56% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 53 | Belton Lincolnshire | D | 1.5 | 67% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 54 | Tattenhall Cheshire | D− | 1.8 | 28% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 55 | Ixworth Suffolk | D− | 1 | 73% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 56 | Hingham Norfolk | D− | 1.9 | 13% | 1 | 0% |
| 57 | Norton South Yorkshire | D− | 1.3 | 63% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 58 | Leven East Riding of Yorkshire | D− | 1.2 | 64% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 59 | Isleham Cambridgeshire | D− | 0.2 | 71% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 60 | Puriton Somerset | D− | 0.1 | 0% | 1.4 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Usk’s built-up area.
Green space: parks, gardens, playing fields and play spaces, named or not.© OpenStreetMap contributors · Contains OS data © Crown copyright · Natural England / NRW
Places to walk
Parks to walk in, in and around Usk
The biggest is The Island, 3.0 ha (7 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
6 in 10 Usk residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Each square is 1 in 100 residents: green lives within 400 m of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace).
Within 400 m (56%)Further (44%)
Usk56%
Villages its size73%
Gwent towns85%
All UK towns83%
About 1,000 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 9 playgrounds are mapped in and around the village, about one for every 257 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
Brecon Beacons and Wye Valley both start about 5 miles from Usk
Protected landscapes within 30 km, by direction and distance from the edge of the built-up area; circle size shows each one’s area. National Landscapes were called Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty until 2023.
National ParkNational LandscapeThe 5 km the grade counts
National Park
Brecon Beacons
3.8 mi north-west1,350 km²since 1955
Protected landscape begins just outside the 5 km ring the Outdoors Grade measures, so Usk scores 0% on it even though the Brecon Beacons National Park is 3.8 mi away. Brecon Beacons National Park covers 1,350 km² and has been a National Park since 1955.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Footpaths in and around Usk
12 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Usk and the kilometre around it, 1.3 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0).
No named walking route is mapped within 2 km of Usk; its footpaths are on the map above.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
When to get out
The best walking months in Usk: May to September
The village’s 1991–2020 averages (Met Office HadUK-Grid) and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have 12½+ hours of daylight, highs of 15 °C or more and little rain for the town.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 8.3 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.6 | 16.6 | 16.2 | 14.6 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.7 | 7.8 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 22 | 21 | 18 | 14 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 128 | 100 | 85 | 73 | 77 | 75 | 67 | 93 | 82 | 135 | 131 | 144 |
July is the driest month (67 mm) and the warmest (highs of 22 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 144 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 50 nights a year. The climate in Usk →
Things to do
9 playgrounds and the nearest beaches
Mapped within 2 km of the village in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK village its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
The nearest beaches
Usk is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the village.
Fossil Beach12 mi from Usk’s edge
DirectionsSugar Loaf Beach15 mi from Usk’s edge
DirectionsLadye Bay17 mi from Usk’s edge
DirectionsClevedon Beach18 mi from Usk’s edge
DirectionsThe Bendricks25 mi from Usk’s edge
DirectionsGood to know
Check the water before you swim. Natural Resources Wales tests designated bathing waters from May to September and publishes a rating for each beach.
Up high. Llancayo Hill, at 137 m, is the highest named top within 2 km of Usk.
Every named place, with directions
Hills and peaks 1
Llancayo Hill137 m (449 ft) · 0.9 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 9
Tumble In The Jungle Soft Playin town
DirectionsUsk Islandin town
DirectionsPlus 7 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Next door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
PenperlleniRaglanPontypoolPonthirCaerleonCwmbrânUsk
ABCDOutdoors Grade
Pontypool, 5.7 miles away, grades B+, the best next door: 93% of its residents live within 400 m of a park.
Questions about the outdoors in Usk
What is the biggest park in Usk?
The Island, 3.0 ha (7 acres), with 0.6 km of path. 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the village or within 400 m of it.
Is Usk near a National Park?
Yes. Brecon Beacons National Park begins 3.8 mi north-west of the village’s edge. It covers 1,350 km² and has been a National Park since 1955.
What is the nearest beach to Usk?
Fossil Beach, 12 mi from the edge of the village, then Sugar Loaf Beach (15 mi). Usk itself is inland.
How many people in Usk live near a park?
56% of residents live within 400 m, about a 5-minute walk, of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace). The typical UK town is 83%.
When is the best time of year for walking in Usk?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Usk good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 1.3 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 13% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 76% (3.5 ha per 1,000 residents).
How is the Outdoors Grade worked out?
From five measures, each placed among UK towns of 1,000 or more: public green space per resident, the share living near a park, National Park or National Landscape within 5 km, footpaths per square kilometre, and the sea within 5 km. It is a character grade and isn’t part of Usk’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Usk’s outdoors figures come from
- Parks and green space: Ordnance Survey OS Open Greenspace (parks and gardens, playing fields, play spaces, and their access points). Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- National Parks and National Landscapes: Natural England and Natural Resources Wales boundaries, areas and designation dates, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Footpaths, walking routes, beaches and things to do: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License (ODbL), via Geofabrik, 16 October 2026.
- Historic parks, listed buildings and monuments: Historic England, National Heritage List for England, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Rain and temperature: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for the town; daylight calculated from its latitude.
- The sea: ONS Countries (December 2024) boundaries clipped to mean high water. Residents near a park: ONS Census 2021 output areas.
- Grade: TownRatings’ Outdoors Grade, ranked against UK towns only.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.