Photo: Turtleey · CC BY-SA 4.0Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Ruston
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 0.2 miles of mapped trail cross Ruston, 0.8 per square mile of land. 1% of Ruston’s land is conserved, about 2 acres.
Ahead of 62% of U.S. towns. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Ruston?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Ruston have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Ruston is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Pick a walk
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
2 conserved acres
1% of Ruston’s land. Who manages Ruston’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ruston Town Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
2 places to go in Ruston
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
1 picnic area without a name on the map.
0.8 miles of bike routes
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.
1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
The best walking months in Ruston: 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 | 54 | 59 | 66 | 70 | 77 | 77 | 71 | 60 | 51 | 46 |
| Rain (in) | 6.5 | 4.4 | 4.7 | 3.4 | 2.0 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 4.2 | 6.8 | 6.5 |
July is the driest month (0.6 in) and August the warmest (highs of 77 °F). 6.8 inches fall in November, the wettest month. The climate in Ruston →
Questions about parks and trails in Ruston
How much of Ruston is conserved land?
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 Ruston’s trails?
Rust Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Ruston?
0.8 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.5 of painted or protected lanes and 0.3 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Ruston?
9,146 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Ruston or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 7 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Ruston have?
Ahead of 62% 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 Ruston neighbors.
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 →