Palouse to Cascades State Park
Park
18 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailheadWebsite ↗
Photo: User:MrX · CC BY-SA 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Kittitas
6% of Kittitas’ land is conserved, and virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 0.7 miles of mapped trail cross Kittitas, 0.9 per square mile of land. 27 acres are parks and preserves, 22 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 89% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
27 acres · of 0.8 sq mi of land
Trails
0.7 mi
0.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
27 ac
22 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.5 mi
0.5 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Kittitas?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Kittitas have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Kittitas is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park ranks highest, conserved land lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Kittitas’ overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical WA town 4% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · WA 0.8 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land22 acres of park per 1,000 residents (27 acres) · WA 11 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · WA 92% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 89%
LessMore
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.
Who protects it
27 conserved acres
6% of Kittitas’ land. Who manages Kittitas’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city17 ac
State parks10 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 17 acState Park · 10 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loth74 Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 17 | Open |
| Iron Horse State Park | State parks | 10 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Kittitas
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Kittitas
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Biking & sports
0.5 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.5 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
4Baseball
1Football
1Tracks
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). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad-Kittitas DepotBuilding · listed 1992
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Kittitas: April to June and 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) | 37 | 44 | 54 | 62 | 71 | 78 | 87 | 86 | 78 | 62 | 47 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.6 |
August is the driest month (0.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 1.6 inches fall in December, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Kittitas →
Questions about parks and trails in Kittitas
How much of Kittitas is conserved land?
6% 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 Kittitas’ trails?
Palouse to Cascades State Park and Palmiero Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Kittitas?
0.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.5 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Kittitas?
19,733 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Kittitas or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 32 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Kittitas have?
Ahead of 89% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Kittitas 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 →