Glen Maury Park
Park
269 acres5.7 mi of trail
Floodline TrailPawpaw TrailGobbler TrailFoxtrot Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailhead
Photo: Carol M. Highsmith · Public domainAOutdoors
Outdoors in Buena Vista
Buena Vista has 12 miles of mapped trails, 1.8 for every square mile of land
303 acres are parks and preserves, 46 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Glen Maury Park (5.7 mi), George Washington National Forest (1.1 mi). 8% of Buena Vista’s land is conserved, about 338 acres.
Ahead of 86% of U.S. towns · #59 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
Conserved land
8%
338 acres · of 6.4 sq mi of land
Trails
12 mi
1.8 per sq mi of land
Park land
303 ac
46 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
61%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Buena Vista?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Buena Vista have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Buena Vista is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #59 of 253 in Virginia. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Buena Vista’s overall grade.
Conserved land8% of the land · typical VA town 4% · U.S. 4%B+Trails1.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (12 mi) · VA 0.7 · U.S. 0.4APark land46 acres of park per 1,000 residents (303 acres) · VA 8 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home61% of residents within a half mile of a park · VA 76% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 86%
LessMore
Virginia towns of 2,500+ (253)Ahead of 77%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− 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 Glen Maury Park, with 5.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
George Washington National Forest
Managed by United States Forest Service
606 acres1.1 mi of trail
Reservoir Hollow Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Laurel Park
Park
11 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
338 conserved acres
8% of Buena Vista’s land. Who manages Buena Vista’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city268 ac
U.S. Forest Service64 ac
Other state land8 ac
Local Recreation Area · 268 acNational Forest · 64 acUnknown Easement · 6 acConservation Easement · 1 acHistoric or Cultural Easement · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 6 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 5 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glen Maury Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 268 | Open |
| George Washington National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 64 | Open |
Things to do
11 places to go in Buena Vista
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Buena Vista
11 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
13 named trails
Named trails
Open to bikes · 7.0 miUnpaved · 7.2 mi
Maury River Walk1.3 mi
Floodline Trail0.9 mi
Pawpaw Trail0.9 mi
Gobbler Trail0.7 mi
Foxtrot Trail0.6 mi
Pic Nic Trail0.6 mi
Hillside Trail0.5 mi
Paxton Trail0.5 mi
Pipeline Trail0.3 mi
Easy Up Trail0.3 mi
3 more trails
Oh Deer Trail
0.2 miRiver Walk
0.1 miStair Way Trail
0.1 miBiking & 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
9Tennis
6Baseball
3Football
2Softball
2Soccer
1Basketball
1Lacrosse
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).
Southern Seminary Main BuildingBuilding · listed 1972
About itGlen MauryBuilding · listed 1979
About itOld CourthouseBuilding · listed 1979
About itCedar HillBuilding · listed 1994
About itBuena Vista Colored SchoolBuilding · listed 2003
About itW.N. Seay HouseBuilding · listed 2007
About itBuena Vista Downtown Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2009
About itColumbian Paper CompanyBuilding · listed 2024
About itParry McCluer High SchoolBuilding · listed 2026
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Buena Vista: April, May and August
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) | 9.8 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.1 | 14.2 | 14.8 | 14.5 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.1 | 9.6 |
| High (°F) | 45 | 49 | 57 | 68 | 76 | 83 | 87 | 85 | 78 | 68 | 57 | 48 |
| Rain (in) | 3.4 | 2.8 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 4.2 | 3.4 | 4.4 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.6 |
February is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 4.5 inches fall in June, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Buena Vista →
Questions about parks and trails in Buena Vista
Where can I hike in Buena Vista?
The longest trail networks: Glen Maury Park, 5.7 miles; George Washington National Forest, 1.1 miles; Laurel Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Buena Vista is conserved land?
8% of its land, against a typical 4% for a Virginia town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Buena Vista’s trails?
Glen Maury Park and George Washington National Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Buena Vista?
60,159 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Buena Vista or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 375 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Buena Vista have?
Ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #59 of 253 in Virginia. 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 Buena Vista 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 →