Photo: DwayneP · CC BY-SA 3.0Marion has 7.4 miles of mapped trails, 1.5 for every square mile of land
17 acres are parks and preserves, 3.0 per 1,000 residents. 70% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 44% of U.S. towns · #175 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Marion?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Marion have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Marion is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #175 of 253 in Virginia. Trail miles hold the grade up; conserved land 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.
14 conserved acres
1% of Marion’s land. Who manages Marion’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverbend Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Little League Park Local Recreation Area | Land trusts & nonprofits | 5 | Open |
1 lakes & rivers
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.
9 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
The best walking months in Marion: 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) | 44 | 47 | 56 | 66 | 74 | 80 | 83 | 82 | 77 | 67 | 56 | 47 |
| Rain (in) | 3.6 | 3.4 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 3.8 |
October is the driest month (2.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.8 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Marion →
Questions about parks and trails in Marion
How much of Marion is conserved land?
1% 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 Marion?
34,062 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Marion or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 17 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Marion have?
Ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #175 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 Marion 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 →