Huckleberry Trail
Managed by Blacksburg Parks and Recreation
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Earhart House · Photo: Skye Marthaler · CC BY-SA 3.0C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Merrimac
98% of residents live within a half mile of a park in Merrimac
11 acres are parks and preserves, 4.2 per 1,000 residents. 0.4 miles of mapped trail cross Merrimac, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 43% of U.S. towns · #179 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
11 acres · of 1.7 sq mi of land
Trails
0.4 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
11 ac
4.2 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
98%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.3 mi
1.3 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Merrimac?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Merrimac have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Merrimac is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns, #179 of 253 in Virginia. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Merrimac’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical VA town 4% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · VA 0.7 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land4.2 acres of park per 1,000 residents (11 acres) · VA 8 · U.S. 13CParks close to home98% of residents within a half mile of a park · VA 76% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 43%
LessMore
Virginia towns of 2,500+ (253)Ahead of 29%
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Merrimac. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
11 conserved acres
1% of Merrimac’s land. Who manages Merrimac’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County10 ac
Town or city1 ac
Not recorded11 ac
Local Park · 22 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Huckleberry Trail Local Park | Not recorded | 19 | Open |
| Montgomery Park Site Local Park | County | 3 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Merrimac
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Merrimac
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Biking & sports
1.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.3 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
1Beach 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).
Montgomery Primitive Baptist ChurchBuilding · listed 1989
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Merrimac: April and June to 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 | 14.5 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.2 | 10.1 | 9.6 |
| High (°F) | 43 | 47 | 55 | 66 | 74 | 80 | 84 | 82 | 77 | 67 | 56 | 46 |
| Rain (in) | 3.1 | 2.7 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 3.2 |
February is the driest month (2.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.3 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Merrimac →
Next door
Merrimac 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merrimac | 1% | 0.2 | 4 | 98% | C+ |
| Blacksburg | 7% | 1.8 | 12 | 98% | A |
| Christiansburg | 2% | 0.4 | 5 | 67% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Merrimac
How much of Merrimac 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.
Are dogs allowed on Merrimac’s trails?
Huckleberry Trail doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Merrimac?
1.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.3 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Merrimac?
12,718 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Merrimac or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 11 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Merrimac have?
Ahead of 43% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #179 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 Merrimac 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 →