Meridian Habitat Park
Managed by Pierce County Parks and Recreation Services
36 acres0.7 mi of trail
Forest Loop
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: SouthHillEditor · CC BY-SA 4.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in South Hill
5% of South Hill’s land is conserved, and 96% of residents live within a half mile of a park
15 miles of mapped trail cross South Hill, 0.8 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Meridian Habitat Park (0.7 mi), Sunrise Park (0.7 mi), Woodland Avenue Passive Recreation Area (0.5 mi). 5% of South Hill’s land is conserved, about 637 acres.
Ahead of 73% of U.S. towns · #131 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
637 acres · of 18.6 sq mi of land
Trails
15 mi
0.8 per sq mi of land
Park land
539 ac
7.9 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
96%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
4.3 mi
3.3 mi lanes · 0.3 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
3
What kind of outdoors town is South Hill?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does South Hill have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, South Hill is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns, #131 of 285 in Washington. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of South Hill’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical WA town 4% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (15 mi) · WA 0.8 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land7.9 acres of park per 1,000 residents (539 acres) · WA 11 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home96% 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 73%
LessMore
Washington towns of 2,500+ (285)Ahead of 54%
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 Meridian Habitat Park, with 0.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Sunrise Park
Managed by Sunrise Homeowner's Association
8 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Woodland Avenue Passive Recreation Area
Park
6 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Heritage Recreation Center
Park
30 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
All 7 parks & preserves
Meridian Habitat Park36 acres · 0.7 mi of trail · Pierce County Parks and Recreation Services
DirectionsSunrise Park8 acres · 0.7 mi of trail · Sunrise Homeowner's Association
DirectionsWoodland Avenue Passive Recreation Area6 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
Heritage Recreation Center30 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
DirectionsSouth Hill Community Park42 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsCommunity Park5 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Adventure Alley Park1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Who protects it
637 conserved acres
5% of South Hill’s land. Who manages South Hill’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County310 ac
Town or city277 ac
Regional agency56 ac
Local Recreation Area · 362 acLocal Other or Unknown · 187 acLocal Park · 92 acAgricultural Easement · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1 acre is a conservation easement, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 18 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| McMillin North Reservoir Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 263 | Open |
| Loth223 Local Other or Unknown | County | 153 | Unknown |
| Heritage Recreation Center Local Recreation Area | Regional agency | 56 | Open |
| South Hill Community Park Local Park | County | 40 | Open |
| Meridian Habitat Park Local Recreation Area | County | 37 | Open |
| Hopp Farm Local Park | County | 35 | Open |
| Loth152 Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 17 | Open |
| Pierce County Airport - Thun Field Local Other or Unknown | County | 17 | Unknown |
| Firgrove Playfield Local Park | County | 14 | Open |
| Woodland Avenue Passive Recreation Area Local Recreation Area | County | 6 | Open |
2 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
139 places to go in South Hill
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in South Hill
1 public pool without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in South Hill
Brouillet Elementary Playground
DirectionsSouth Ridge Playground
Directions131 playgrounds are on OpenStreetMap in all; the list shows named ones from the first 30.
Dog parks in South Hill
Plus 2 dog parks without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Picnic areas in South Hill
2 picnic areas without a name on the map.
Trails & water
4 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 7.0 mi
Pipeline Road East1.1 mi
Tacoma Water Property Trail0.5 mi
86th Avenue East0.3 mi
Forest Loop0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
4.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
3.3 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
0.3 mi
off-road bike paths
0.7 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
74Basketball
22Baseball
20Tennis
17Pickleball
6Soccer
5Tracks
5Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in South Hill: 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 | 15.1 | 15.9 | 15.5 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.5 |
| High (°F) | 47 | 49 | 53 | 59 | 66 | 70 | 77 | 77 | 71 | 60 | 51 | 46 |
| Rain (in) | 5.7 | 4.0 | 4.5 | 3.9 | 2.8 | 2.2 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 4.1 | 6.4 | 6.0 |
July is the driest month (0.8 in) and August the warmest (highs of 77 °F). 6.4 inches fall in November, the wettest month. The climate in South Hill →
Next door
South Hill and its neighbors
South Hill has the second most mapped trails of the 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Hill | 5% | 0.8 | 8 | 96% | B+ |
| Graham | 2% | 0.2 | 5 | 64% | C |
| McMillin | 20% | 5.3 | 27 | 99%+ | A+ |
| Summit View | under 1% | 0.1 | 1 | 90% | C− |
| Frederickson | 4% | 0.2 | 11 | 96% | B |
| Puyallup | 6% | 2.0 | 13 | 93% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in South Hill
Where can I hike in South Hill?
The longest trail networks: Meridian Habitat Park, 0.7 miles; Sunrise Park, 0.7 miles; Woodland Avenue Passive Recreation Area, 0.5 miles; Heritage Recreation Center, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of South Hill is conserved land?
5% 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 South Hill’s trails?
Meridian Habitat Park and Sunrise Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in South Hill?
4.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.3 of painted or protected lanes, 0.3 of off-road paths and 0.7 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near South Hill?
11,360 acres of parks and open public land lie inside South Hill or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 539 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does South Hill have?
Ahead of 73% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #131 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 South Hill 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 →