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SouthBostonVirginiaPhoto: Eduardo Montes-Bradley · CC BY-SA 4.0
A−Outdoors
Outdoors in South Boston

15% of South Boston’s land is conserved: 1,279 acres

15 miles of mapped trail cross South Boston, 1.1 per square mile of land. 155 acres are parks and preserves, 20 per 1,000 residents. 66% of residents live within a half mile of a park.

Ahead of 83% of U.S. towns · #68 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it

Conserved land
15%
1,279 acres · of 13.1 sq mi of land
Trails
15 mi
1.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
155 ac
20 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
66%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.5 mi
2.5 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
1 boat launch

What kind of outdoors town is South Boston?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Land that stays wild15% of the land is conserved; a typical Virginia town, 4%.A trail town1.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 83% of U.S. towns.History along the way7 places on the National Register.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does South Boston have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, South Boston is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns, #68 of 253 in Virginia. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.

A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of South Boston’s overall grade.
Conserved land15% of the land · typical VA town 4% · U.S. 4%A−Trails1.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (15 mi) · VA 0.7 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land20 acres of park per 1,000 residents (155 acres) · VA 8 · U.S. 13BParks close to home66% 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 83%
LessMore
Virginia towns of 2,500+ (253)Ahead of 73%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− 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.

1234
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 Paul C. Edmunds Park, with 0.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Paul C. Edmunds Park

Park
102 acres0.4 mi of trail
Woodland Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Vaughan St. Park

Park
6 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Tobacco Heritage Trail - Cotton Mill Park Trailhead, South Boston

Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

North Main Street Park

Park
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 7 parks & preserves
Paul C. Edmunds Park102 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
Directions
Constitution Square1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Directions
Vaughan St. Park6 acres
Tobacco Heritage Trail - Cotton Mill Park Trailhead, South Boston3 acres
North Main Street Park2 acres
Grove Park2 acres
Penick Park1 acres
Who protects it

1,279 conserved acres

15% of South Boston’s land. Who manages South Boston’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Other state land1,326 ac
Army Corps of Engineers1,100 ac
State conservation46 ac
Town or city29 ac
State natural resources18 ac
County5 ac
Conservation Easement · 1,245 acHistoric or Cultural Easement · 661 acOther Easement · 579 acLocal Park · 21 acLocal Recreation Area · 14 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,245 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 15 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Unknown Park
Local Park
Town or city15Open
Tobacco Heritage Trail - Cotton Mill Park Trailhead
Local Park
Town or city9Open
Vaughn Street Park
Local Park
County5Open
North Main St
Local Park
Town or city2Open
Grove Park
Local Park
Town or city2Open
Penick Park
Local Park
Town or city1Open
Things to do

2 places to go in South Boston

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Playgrounds in South Boston

1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.

Trails & water

1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Woodland Trail0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Dan River
Biking & sports

2.5 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

2.5 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
13Tennis
10Baseball
3Basketball

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

7 places on the National Register, one a National Historic Landmark

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.

History →
★
Berry HillNational Historic Landmark · Building · listed 1969
About it
TaroverBuilding · listed 1978
About it
SeatonBuilding · listed 1980
About it
South Boston Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1986
About it
E.L. Evans HouseBuilding · listed 2008
About it
South Boston Historic District Boundary IncreaseDistrict · listed 2009
About it
Walters-Moshier HouseBuilding · listed 2018
About it
Vaughan HouseBuilding · listed 2019
About it
When to get out

April is the best month for walking in South Boston

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.910.811.913.114.114.714.413.512.411.210.29.7
High (°F)485260707784888680716051
Rain (in)3.52.84.03.64.44.44.03.84.53.43.43.6

February is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 4.5 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in South Boston →

Next door

South Boston and its neighbors

South Boston has the most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

South Boston15 miRiverdale8.3 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
South Boston15%1.12066%A−
Riverdaleunder 1%1.0under 1under 1%C−

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in South Boston

Where can I hike in South Boston?

The longest trail networks: Paul C. Edmunds Park, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of South Boston is conserved land?

15% 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 South Boston’s trails?

Paul C. Edmunds Park and Vaughan St. Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in South Boston?

2.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.5 of off-road paths.

Is there public land near South Boston?

1,923 acres of parks and open public land lie inside South Boston or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 155 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does South Boston have?

Ahead of 83% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #68 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 South Boston neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →