Riverside Park
Managed by Pierce County Parks & Recreation
40 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Charles W. Orton House · Photo: Ben Cody · Public domainAOutdoors
Outdoors in Alderton
Alderton has 8.0 miles of mapped trails, 1.4 for every square mile of land
143 acres are parks and preserves, 53 per 1,000 residents. 95% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 11% of Alderton’s land is conserved, about 401 acres.
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns · #29 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Conserved land
11%
401 acres · of 5.7 sq mi of land
Trails
8.0 mi
1.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
143 ac
53 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
95%
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 Alderton?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Alderton have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Alderton is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #29 of 285 in Washington. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; trail miles rank highest, conserved land lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Alderton’s overall grade.
Conserved land11% of the land · typical WA town 4% · U.S. 4%A−Trails1.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (8 mi) · WA 0.8 · U.S. 0.4APark land53 acres of park per 1,000 residents (143 acres) · WA 11 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home95% of residents within a half mile of a park · WA 92% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 94%
LessMore
Washington towns of 2,500+ (285)Ahead of 90%
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.
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.
Van Lierop Park
Managed by City of Puyallup
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
401 conserved acres
11% of Alderton’s land. Who manages Alderton’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County497 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 237 acLocal Park · 135 acAgricultural Easement · 126 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 126 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 6 of 8 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loth223 Local Other or Unknown | County | 237 | Unknown |
| Foothills Trail- Meeker To Mcmillin Section Local Park | County | 100 | Open |
| Riverside County Park Local Park | County | 35 | Open |
Things to do
11 places to go in Alderton
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Alderton
7 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Alderton
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Picnic areas in Alderton
1 picnic area without a name on the map.
Disc golf in Alderton
Riverside Disc Golf CourseIn Riverside Park · Pierce County Parks & Recreation
DirectionsCommunity gardens in Alderton
1 community garden without a name on the map.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
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
8Basketball
2Pickleball
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 places on the National Register
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.
When to get out
The best walking months in Alderton: April to September
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) | 8.9 | 10.2 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 15.1 | 15.9 | 15.6 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.5 |
| High (°F) | 47 | 50 | 55 | 60 | 67 | 71 | 78 | 78 | 72 | 61 | 52 | 46 |
| Rain (in) | 5.5 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 4.0 | 6.1 | 5.5 |
July is the driest month (0.8 in) and August the warmest (highs of 78 °F). 6.1 inches fall in November, the wettest month. The climate in Alderton →
Next door
Alderton 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alderton | 11% | 1.4 | 53 | 95% | A |
| Bonney Lake | 3% | 0.8 | 10 | 89% | B+ |
| Sumner | 10% | 0.4 | 40 | 99% | A |
| Puyallup | 6% | 2.0 | 13 | 93% | A− |
| McMillin | 20% | 5.3 | 27 | 99%+ | A+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Alderton
How much of Alderton is conserved land?
11% of its land, against a typical 4% for a Washington town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Alderton’s trails?
Riverside Park and Van Lierop Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Alderton?
2.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.5 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Alderton?
11,975 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Alderton or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 143 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Alderton have?
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #29 of 285 in Washington. 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 Alderton 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 →