Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Vestal's Gap Road and Lanesville Historic District · Photo: Cecouchman · CC BY-SA 3.095% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 11% of Sterling’s land is conserved, about 376 acres. The biggest trail networks: Claude Moore Park (10 mi), Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park (1.6 mi).
Ahead of 89% of U.S. towns · #41 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Sterling is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns, #41 of 253 in Virginia. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; trail miles rank highest, park acres per resident lowest.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
The longest trail network is Claude Moore Park, with 10 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
11% of Sterling’s land. Who manages Sterling’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Moore Park Local Park | County | 683 | Open |
| Washington and Old Dominion Trail Local Park | Not recorded | 52 | Open |
| Briar Patch Park Local Park | County | 10 | Open |
| Sterling Community Center Local Park | Not recorded | 7 | Open |
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
43 playgrounds are on OpenStreetMap in all; the list shows named ones from the first 30.
1 picnic area without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
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.
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
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 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 42 | 46 | 55 | 66 | 75 | 83 | 87 | 86 | 79 | 67 | 56 | 46 |
| Rain (in) | 3.0 | 2.6 | 3.6 | 3.3 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 3.7 | 3.1 | 3.5 |
February is the driest month (2.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 4.3 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Sterling →
Sterling has the most mapped trails of the 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling | 11% | 2.3 | 12 | 95% | A |
| Dulles Town Center | under 1% | 0.3 | 2 | 99% | C |
| Oak Grove | 1% | 0.6 | 4 | 99% | B− |
| Cascades | 29% | 2.8 | 55 | 87% | A+ |
| Sugarland Run | 1% | 1.0 | 6 | 96% | B |
| Ashburn | 3% | 0.6 | 8 | 64% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
The longest trail networks: Claude Moore Park, 10 miles; Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park, 1.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
11% 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.
Claude Moore Park and Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
5.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.9 of painted or protected lanes, 2.1 of off-road paths and 0.1 of shoulders and shared lanes.
17,500 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Sterling or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 389 of them inside the town line.
Ahead of 89% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #41 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.
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Sterling neighbors.
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 →