Carney Park
Managed by Fairfax County Park Authority
41 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Fair Oaks
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Fair Oaks
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Carney Park (0.6 mi). 3.1 miles of mapped trail cross Fair Oaks, 0.6 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 69% of U.S. towns · #109 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
131 acres · of 5.0 sq mi of land
Trails
3.1 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
153 ac
4.3 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
17 mi
4.3 mi lanes · 12 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Fair Oaks?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Fair Oaks have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Fair Oaks is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns, #109 of 253 in Virginia. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Fair Oaks’ overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical VA town 4% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · VA 0.7 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land4.3 acres of park per 1,000 residents (153 acres) · VA 8 · U.S. 13CParks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · VA 76% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 69%
LessMore
Virginia towns of 2,500+ (253)Ahead of 57%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B− 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 Carney Park, with 0.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Waples Mill Meadow Park
Managed by Fairfax County Park Authority
38 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto Waples Mill Meadow Parking
Fair Woods Park
Managed by Fairfax County Park Authority
14 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Lake Zasada Community Park
Park
11 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 11 parks & preserves
Carney Park41 acres · 0.6 mi of trail · Fairfax County Park Authority
DirectionsWaples Mill Meadow Park38 acres · 0.2 mi of trail · Fairfax County Park Authority
DirectionsFair Woods Park14 acres · Fairfax County Park Authority
DirectionsLake Zasada Community Park11 acres
Random Hills Park11 acres · Fairfax County Park Authority
Fair Ridge Park9 acres · Fairfax County Park Authority
DirectionsLittle Rocky Run Stream Valley Park4 acres · Fairfax County Park Authority
Ox Hill Battlefield Park4 acres · Fairfax County Park Authority
DirectionsFair Oaks Park4 acres · Fairfax County Park Authority
DirectionsDixie Hill Park3 acres · Fairfax County Park Authority
DirectionsStone Creek Park1 acres
Who protects it
131 conserved acres
4% of Fair Oaks’ land. Who manages Fair Oaks’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County138 ac
Not recorded58 ac
Local Park · 181 acLocal Historic or Cultural Area · 5 acOther Easement · 3 acLocal Other or Unknown · 3 acConservation Easement · 3 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 21 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waples Mill Local Park | County | 76 | Open |
| Carney Park Local Park | County | 51 | Open |
| Fair Woods Park Local Park | County | 14 | Open |
| Ox Hill Battlefield Park Local Historic or Cultural Area | County | 9 | Open |
| Fair Ridge Park Local Park | County | 9 | Open |
| Random Hills Park Local Park | County | 8 | Open |
| Random Hills Local Park | Not recorded | 7 | Open |
| Fair Oaks Park Local Park | County | 3 | Open |
| Dixie Hill Park Local Park | County | 3 | Open |
| Rocky Run Stream Valley Local Park | Not recorded | 3 | Open |
2 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
32 places to go in Fair Oaks
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Fair Oaks
Penderbrook Swimming Pool
DirectionsPenderbrook Swimming Pool (Diving)
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Fair Oaks
Fairfax Ridge Tot Lot
DirectionsWaples Mill Playground
DirectionsPlus 27 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Fair Oaks
1 dog park without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Biking & sports
17 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
4.3 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
12 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
18Tennis
9Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Fair Oaks: 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) | 9.7 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 14.6 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 43 | 46 | 55 | 66 | 74 | 83 | 87 | 85 | 78 | 67 | 56 | 47 |
| Rain (in) | 3.0 | 2.6 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 3.1 | 3.5 |
February is the driest month (2.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 4.3 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Fair Oaks →
Next door
Fair Oaks and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair Oaks | 4% | 0.6 | 4 | 99%+ | B+ |
| Oakton | 10% | 1.9 | 17 | 97% | A |
| Difficult Run | 11% | 2.6 | 64 | 99%+ | A+ |
| Fair Lakes | 11% | 0.4 | 20 | 99%+ | A |
| Fairfax | 5% | 1.3 | 10 | 99%+ | A |
| George Mason | 4% | 2.6 | 7 | 98% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Fair Oaks
Where can I hike in Fair Oaks?
The longest trail networks: Carney Park, 0.6 miles; Waples Mill Meadow Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Fair Oaks is conserved land?
4% 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 Fair Oaks’ trails?
Carney Park and Waples Mill Meadow Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Fair Oaks?
17 miles of bike routes are on the map: 4.3 of painted or protected lanes and 12 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Fair Oaks?
26,776 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Fair Oaks or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 153 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Fair Oaks have?
Ahead of 69% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #109 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 Fair Oaks 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 →