Leopold's Preserve
Managed by White House Farm Foundation
339 acres6.9 mi of trail
Leopold's LoopPinkard's LoopMeadow LoopWarbler Loop+1
Dogs on leash
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Ser Amantio di Nicolao · CC BY-SA 4.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Gainesville
Gainesville has 17 miles of mapped trails, 1.7 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Leopold's Preserve (6.9 mi). 6% of Gainesville’s land is conserved, about 393 acres. 340 acres are parks and preserves, 19 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 73% of U.S. towns · #99 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
393 acres · of 10.1 sq mi of land
Trails
17 mi
1.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
340 ac
19 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
48%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
11 mi
11 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Gainesville?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Gainesville have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Gainesville is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns, #99 of 253 in Virginia. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Gainesville’s overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical VA town 4% · U.S. 4%B+Trails1.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (17 mi) · VA 0.7 · U.S. 0.4APark land19 acres of park per 1,000 residents (340 acres) · VA 8 · U.S. 13BParks close to home48% of residents within a half mile of a park · VA 76% · U.S. 72%C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 73%
LessMore
Virginia towns of 2,500+ (253)Ahead of 61%
Water is 5% of Gainesville’s area (1 of 11 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 6%.
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 Leopold's Preserve, with 6.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Elizabeth Nickens Park Site
Nature preserve
26 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
393 conserved acres
6% of Gainesville’s land. Water is left out: Gainesville has 10.1 square miles of land and 0.6 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Gainesville’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits785 ac
Conservation Easement · 392 acOther Easement · 392 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 393 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
Things to do
30 places to go in Gainesville
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Gainesville
Broad Run Oaks Community Pool
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Gainesville
26 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Gainesville
3 dog parks without a name on the map.
Trails & water
8 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 7.8 mi
Leopold's Loop3.6 mi
Pinkard's Loop0.8 mi
Meadow Loop0.3 mi
Warbler Loop0.2 mi
Wood Frog Loop0.2 mi
Leopold Connector0.1 mi
Butterfly Loop0.1 mi
Pinkard's Connector0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
11 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
11 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
28Tennis
14Basketball
7Baseball
4Soccer
3Football
2Beach volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Mount Pleasant Baptist Church and CemeteryBuilding · listed 2021
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Gainesville: 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 | 47 | 55 | 67 | 75 | 83 | 87 | 86 | 79 | 68 | 57 | 47 |
| Rain (in) | 2.9 | 2.4 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 3.4 | 4.1 | 3.7 | 3.0 | 3.4 |
February is the driest month (2.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 4.3 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Gainesville →
Next door
Gainesville and its neighbors
Gainesville has the most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gainesville | 6% | 1.7 | 19 | 48% | B+ |
| Linton Hall | 5% | 0.9 | 8 | 95% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Gainesville
Where can I hike in Gainesville?
The longest trail networks: Leopold's Preserve, 6.9 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Gainesville is conserved land?
6% 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 Gainesville’s trails?
OpenStreetMap records dogs as welcome at Leopold's Preserve (on leash). For the rest, check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Gainesville?
11 miles of bike routes are on the map: 11 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Gainesville?
12,493 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Gainesville or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 340 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Gainesville have?
Ahead of 73% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #99 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 Gainesville 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 →