Upper Muck Creek Protected Area
Nature preserve
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
COutdoors
Outdoors in Elk Plain
Elk Plain has 6.0 miles of mapped trails, 0.7 for every square mile of land
12 acres are parks and preserves, 0.9 per 1,000 residents. 56% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 30% of U.S. towns · #244 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
25 acres · of 8.4 sq mi of land
Trails
6.0 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
12 ac
0.9 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
56%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.9 mi
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Elk Plain have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Elk Plain is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #244 of 285 in Washington. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Elk Plain’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical WA town 4% · U.S. 4%C−Trails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (6 mi) · WA 0.8 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land0.9 acres of park per 1,000 residents (12 acres) · WA 11 · U.S. 13DParks close to home56% of residents within a half mile of a park · WA 92% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 30%
LessMore
Washington towns of 2,500+ (285)Ahead of 14%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. 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
25 conserved acres
under 1% of Elk Plain’s land. Who manages Elk Plain’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County17 ac
Town or city8 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 25 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 2 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 | 17 | Unknown |
| Loth152 Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 8 | Open |
Things to do
15 places to go in Elk Plain
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Elk Plain
15 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Biking & sports
1.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.9 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
14Baseball
6Tennis
4Basketball
2Football
1Tracks
1Pickleball
1Volleyball
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Elk Plain: May 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 | 15.0 | 15.9 | 15.5 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.5 |
| High (°F) | 47 | 49 | 54 | 59 | 66 | 70 | 77 | 77 | 71 | 60 | 51 | 46 |
| Rain (in) | 5.7 | 4.0 | 4.6 | 3.8 | 2.7 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.9 | 4.1 | 6.3 | 6.0 |
July is the driest month (0.8 in) and August the warmest (highs of 77 °F). 6.3 inches fall in November, the wettest month. The climate in Elk Plain →
Next door
Elk Plain 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elk Plain | under 1% | 0.7 | 1 | 56% | C |
| Graham | 2% | 0.2 | 5 | 64% | C |
| South Creek | under 1% | 0.6 | under 1 | 3% | D |
| Spanaway | 6% | 1.0 | 9 | 90% | B+ |
| Frederickson | 4% | 0.2 | 11 | 96% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Elk Plain
How much of Elk Plain is conserved land?
under 1% 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 Elk Plain’s trails?
Upper Muck Creek Protected Area doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Elk Plain?
1.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.9 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Elk Plain?
6,400 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Elk Plain or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 12 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Elk Plain have?
Ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #244 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 Elk Plain 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 →