Key Central Forest
Managed by Key Peninsula Metropolitan Park District
525 acres5.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Glencove Hotel · Photo: garann · CC BY-SA 2.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Key Center
Key Center has 730 acres of parks, 206 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Key Central Forest (5.8 mi), Haley State Park Property (1.4 mi). 8% of Key Center’s land is conserved, about 781 acres. 8.6 miles of mapped trail cross Key Center, 0.6 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 79% of U.S. towns · #104 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Conserved land
8%
781 acres · of 14.6 sq mi of land
Trails
8.6 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
730 ac
206 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
50%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.3 mi
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Key Center?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Key Center have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Key Center is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns, #104 of 285 in Washington. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Key Center’s overall grade.
Conserved land8% of the land · typical WA town 4% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (9 mi) · WA 0.8 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land206 acres of park per 1,000 residents (730 acres) · WA 11 · U.S. 13AParks close to home50% of residents within a half mile of a park · WA 92% · U.S. 72%C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 79%
LessMore
Washington towns of 2,500+ (285)Ahead of 64%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ 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
The longest trail network is Key Central Forest, with 5.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Haley State Park Property
Nature preserve
226 acres1.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Volunteer Park
Managed by Key Peninsula Metropolitan Park District
21 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Minter Creek Nature Preserve
Managed by Key Peninsula Metropolitan Park District
5 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
781 conserved acres
8% of Key Center’s land. Who manages Key Center’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Regional agency503 ac
State parks183 ac
County105 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits8 ac
State natural resources1 ac
Local Resource Management Area · 482 acState Park · 183 acLocal Other or Unknown · 105 acLocal Park · 21 acPrivate Conservation · 8 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 6 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Key Central Forest Local Resource Management Area | Regional agency | 482 | Open |
| Haley property State Park | State parks | 183 | Open |
| Loth223 Local Other or Unknown | County | 105 | Unknown |
| Volunteer Park Local Park | Regional agency | 21 | Open |
| Southwind Conservancy Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 8 | Closed |
| Unknown - Habitat and Passive Recreation Area State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 1 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Key Center
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Key Center
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
2.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.3 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
4Baseball
2Basketball
1Football
1Soccer
1Tracks
1Skate park
1Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Glencove HotelBuilding · listed 1978
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Key Center: 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 | 9.2 | 8.5 |
| High (°F) | 47 | 50 | 55 | 60 | 67 | 71 | 77 | 78 | 72 | 61 | 52 | 46 |
| Rain (in) | 7.7 | 5.0 | 5.6 | 3.8 | 2.2 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 5.0 | 7.8 | 8.1 |
July is the driest month (0.7 in) and August the warmest (highs of 78 °F). 8.1 inches fall in December, the wettest month. The climate in Key Center →
Next door
Key Center and its neighbors
Key Center has the second most mapped trails of the 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Key Center | 8% | 0.6 | 206 | 50% | A− |
| Home | 5% | 0.1 | 33 | 55% | B− |
| Stansberry Lake | 7% | 0.7 | 50 | 92% | A |
| Wauna | 12% | 1.5 | 96 | 54% | A |
| Vaughn | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Key Center
Where can I hike in Key Center?
The longest trail networks: Key Central Forest, 5.8 miles; Haley State Park Property, 1.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Key Center is conserved land?
8% 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 Key Center’s trails?
Key Central Forest and Haley State Park Property don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Key Center?
2.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.3 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Key Center?
23,723 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Key Center or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 733 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Key Center have?
Ahead of 79% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #104 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 Key Center 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 →