Ashley Valley Community Park
Park
28 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: InSapphoWeTrust from Los Angeles, California, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Vernal
Vernal has 93 acres of parks, 9.0 for every 1,000 residents
83% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.6 miles of mapped trail cross Vernal, 0.1 per square mile of land. 3% of Vernal’s land is conserved, about 97 acres.
Ahead of 46% of U.S. towns · #98 of 119 in Utah. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
97 acres · of 4.7 sq mi of land
Trails
0.6 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
93 ac
9.0 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
83%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Vernal?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Vernal have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Vernal is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns, #98 of 119 in Utah. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Vernal’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical UT town 3% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · UT 1.1 · U.S. 0.4CPark land9.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (93 acres) · UT 7 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home83% of residents within a half mile of a park · UT 91% · U.S. 72%B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 46%
LessMore
Utah towns of 2,500+ (119)Ahead of 18%
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 Ashley Valley Community Park, with 0.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Independence Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
97 conserved acres
3% of Vernal’s land. Who manages Vernal’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city57 ac
County32 ac
U.S. Forest Service4 ac
State parks3 ac
Bureau of Land Management2 ac
Local Park · 89 acNational Forest · 4 acState Park · 3 acNational Public Lands · 2 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashley Valley Softball Fields And Freestone Legacy Walking Park Local Park | Town or city | 42 | Open |
| Fairgrounds Park Local Park | County | 32 | Open |
| Sports Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Ashley National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 4 | Open |
| Uintah County Heritage Museum, Ne Utah Visitor Center Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Utah Field House Natuarl History State Park State Park | State parks | 3 | Open |
| Vernal Field Office National Public Lands | Bureau of Land Management | 2 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Lds Temple Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
9 places to go in Vernal
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Vernal
Vernal City Park East PlaygroundIn Ashley Valley Community Park
DirectionsPlus 7 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Picnic areas in Vernal
1 picnic area 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
8Baseball
1Basketball
1Skate park
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →9 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 2 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Lewis Curry HouseBuilding · listed 1982
About itSt. Paul's Episcopal Church and LodgeBuilding · listed 1985
About itVernal Tithing OfficeBuilding · listed 1985
About itFenn-Bullock HouseBuilding · listed 1999
About itManfred and Ethel Martin HouseBuilding · listed 2004
About itWashington School-Vernal LDS Relief Society HallBuilding · listed 2004
About itWilliam and Emily Siddoway HouseBuilding · listed 2006
About itBank of VernalBuilding · listed 2008
About itDine-A-Ville DinosaurObject · listed 2023
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Vernal: April to June
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) | 9.6 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.4 | 15.0 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 29 | 38 | 52 | 61 | 72 | 83 | 90 | 87 | 77 | 63 | 46 | 32 |
| Rain (in) | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
January is the driest month (0.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 1.2 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Vernal →
Questions about parks and trails in Vernal
Where can I hike in Vernal?
The longest trail networks: Ashley Valley Community Park, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Vernal is conserved land?
3% of its land, against a typical 3% for an Utah town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Vernal’s trails?
Ashley Valley Community Park and Freestone Legacy Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Vernal?
143,543 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Vernal or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 98 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Vernal have?
Ahead of 46% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #98 of 119 in Utah. 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 Vernal 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 →