South Lawson Park
Managed by City of Poquoson
16 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Chrisfortier at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Poquoson
32% of Poquoson’s land is conserved: 3,099 acres
The biggest trail networks: South Lawson Park (0.5 mi). 50 acres are parks and preserves, 3.9 per 1,000 residents. 2.0 miles of mapped trail cross Poquoson, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 42% of U.S. towns · #182 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
Conserved land
32%
3,099 acres · of 15.4 sq mi of land
Trails
2.0 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
50 ac
3.9 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
32%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.1 mi
0.1 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
4
4 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Poquoson?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Poquoson have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Poquoson is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns, #182 of 253 in Virginia. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Poquoson’s overall grade.
Conserved land32% of the land · typical VA town 4% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · VA 0.7 · U.S. 0.4CPark land3.9 acres of park per 1,000 residents (50 acres) · VA 8 · U.S. 13CParks close to home32% 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 42%
LessMore
Virginia towns of 2,500+ (253)Ahead of 28%
Water is more than half of Poquoson’s area (63 of 78 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 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
The longest trail network is South Lawson Park, with 0.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Plum Tree Island National Wildlife Refuge
Managed by United States Fish and Wildlife Service
3,435 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
3,099 conserved acres
32% of Poquoson’s land. Water is left out: Poquoson has 15.4 square miles of land and 63.1 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Poquoson’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service6,106 ac
Town or city34 ac
State conservation9 ac
Other state land9 ac
Not recorded34 ac
National Wildlife Refuge · 6,106 acLocal Park · 68 acConservation Easement · 9 acUnknown Easement · 9 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 9 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 8 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plum Tree Island National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 6,106 | Restricted |
| Municipal Park Local Park | Town or city | 37 | Open |
| Phillips Park Local Park | Town or city | 31 | Open |
Things to do
13 places to go in Poquoson
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Poquoson
Poquoson Pool
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Poquoson
7 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Poquoson
4 boat launches without a name on the map.
Community gardens in Poquoson
1 community garden without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
4 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.1 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
8Tennis
7Baseball
6Soccer
1Softball
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Poquoson: April to June
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) | 49 | 52 | 59 | 69 | 77 | 84 | 88 | 86 | 80 | 71 | 61 | 53 |
| Rain (in) | 3.4 | 2.9 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 5.3 | 5.0 | 5.1 | 3.9 | 3.1 | 3.5 |
February is the driest month (2.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 5.3 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Poquoson →
Next door
Poquoson and its neighbors
Poquoson has the second 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poquoson | 32% | 0.1 | 4 | 32% | C+ |
| Hampton | 5% | 0.7 | 14 | 52% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Poquoson
Where can I hike in Poquoson?
The longest trail networks: South Lawson Park, 0.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Poquoson is conserved land?
32% 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 Poquoson’s trails?
South Lawson Park and Plum Tree Island National Wildlife Refuge don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Poquoson?
0.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.1 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Poquoson?
12,141 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Poquoson or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 50 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Poquoson have?
Ahead of 42% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #182 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 Poquoson 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 →