George Hellwig Memorial Park
Park
135 acres1.3 mi of trail
Fitness Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Independent Hill
Independent Hill has 6.7 miles of mapped trails, 0.8 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: George Hellwig Memorial Park (1.3 mi), Powell's Creek Greenway (1.2 mi). 85% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 228 acres are parks and preserves, 21 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 74% of U.S. towns · #94 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
218 acres · of 8.9 sq mi of land
Trails
6.7 mi
0.8 per sq mi of land
Park land
228 ac
21 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
85%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
4.2 mi
4.2 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Independent Hill?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Independent Hill have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Independent Hill is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns, #94 of 253 in Virginia. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; trail miles rank highest, conserved land lowest.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Independent Hill’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical VA town 4% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (7 mi) · VA 0.7 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land21 acres of park per 1,000 residents (228 acres) · VA 8 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home85% 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 74%
LessMore
Virginia towns of 2,500+ (253)Ahead of 63%
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 George Hellwig Memorial Park, with 1.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Powell's Creek Greenway
Managed by Prince William County Department of Parks, Recreation, & Tourism
171 acres1.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Howison Homestead Park
Park
28 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Minnieville Manor Park
Managed by Prince William County Department of Parks, Recreation, & Tourism
15 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
218 conserved acres
4% of Independent Hill’s land. Who manages Independent Hill’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County211 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits10 ac
Not recorded193 ac
Local Park · 404 acOther Easement · 5 acConservation Easement · 5 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 5 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| George Hellwig Memorial Park Local Park | County | 262 | Open |
| Howison Homestead Soccer Complex Local Park | Not recorded | 54 | Open |
| Ashland Park Local Park | Not recorded | 44 | Open |
| Independent Hill Community Park Local Park | County | 28 | Open |
| Minnieville Manor Park Local Park | County | 14 | Open |
| Winding Creek Community Center Local Park | Not recorded | 2 | Open |
Things to do
30 places to go in Independent Hill
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Independent Hill
24 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Independent Hill
6 dog parks without a name on the map.
Trails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Unpaved · 3.5 mi
Fitness Trail1.0 mi
Biking & sports
4.2 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
4.2 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
20Tennis
16Baseball
15Soccer
12Basketball
2Football
1Volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Independent Hill: 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) | 44 | 47 | 56 | 67 | 75 | 83 | 87 | 86 | 79 | 68 | 57 | 48 |
| Rain (in) | 2.8 | 2.5 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 3.6 | 3.0 | 3.4 |
February is the driest month (2.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 4.2 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Independent Hill →
Next door
Independent Hill and its neighbors
Independent Hill has the second most mapped trails of the 3 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Independent Hill
Where can I hike in Independent Hill?
The longest trail networks: George Hellwig Memorial Park, 1.3 miles; Powell's Creek Greenway, 1.2 miles; Howison Homestead Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Independent Hill 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 Independent Hill’s trails?
George Hellwig Memorial Park and Powell's Creek Greenway don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Independent Hill?
4.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 4.2 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Independent Hill?
15,522 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Independent Hill or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 228 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Independent Hill have?
Ahead of 74% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #94 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 Independent Hill 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 →