Photo: James Shelton32 · CC BY-SA 3.011% of Chilhowie’s land is conserved: 171 acres
2.4 miles of mapped trail cross Chilhowie, 0.9 per square mile of land. 47% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 40 acres are parks and preserves, 16 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 72% of U.S. towns. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Chilhowie?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Chilhowie have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Chilhowie is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
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.
171 conserved acres
11% of Chilhowie’s land. Who manages Chilhowie’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 171 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 5 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
1 places to go in Chilhowie
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
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.
4 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
The best walking months in Chilhowie: April 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) | 9.9 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 13.1 | 14.1 | 14.7 | 14.4 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.2 | 10.1 | 9.6 |
| High (°F) | 45 | 49 | 57 | 68 | 75 | 81 | 84 | 83 | 78 | 68 | 57 | 48 |
| Rain (in) | 3.8 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 4.1 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 3.0 | 3.7 |
November is the driest month (3.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.8 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Chilhowie →
Questions about parks and trails in Chilhowie
How much of Chilhowie is conserved land?
11% 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.
Is there public land near Chilhowie?
15,971 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Chilhowie or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 40 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Chilhowie have?
Ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Chilhowie 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 →