YHS Prairie
Managed by Yelm High School
30 acres1.4 mi of trail
Yelm XC Course
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Rising*From*Ashes · CC BY-SA 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Yelm
Yelm has 20 miles of mapped trails, 3.4 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: YHS Prairie (1.4 mi), Cochrane Memorial Park (0.5 mi). 85% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1% of Yelm’s land is conserved, about 43 acres.
Ahead of 62% of U.S. towns · #176 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
43 acres · of 5.8 sq mi of land
Trails
20 mi
3.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
63 ac
5.7 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
85%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
9.6 mi
5.7 mi lanes · 3.3 mi paths
Highest peak
476 ft
Severe Hill
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Yelm?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Yelm have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Yelm is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns, #176 of 285 in Washington. Trail miles hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Yelm’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical WA town 4% · U.S. 4%CTrails3.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (20 mi) · WA 0.8 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land5.7 acres of park per 1,000 residents (63 acres) · WA 11 · U.S. 13CParks close to home85% 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 62%
LessMore
Washington towns of 2,500+ (285)Ahead of 38%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ 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 YHS Prairie, with 1.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Longmire Community Park
Park
14 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 6 parks & preserves
YHS Prairie30 acres · 1.4 mi of trail · Yelm High School
DirectionsCochrane Memorial Park8 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
DirectionsLongmire Community Park14 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsYelm City Park4 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsPrairie Line Trailhead2 acres
DirectionsSam Brewer Veterans Memorial Field1 acres
Who protects it
43 conserved acres
1% of Yelm’s land. Who manages Yelm’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city36 ac
County16 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)1 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 27 acLocal Park · 25 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 1 of 6 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loth249 Local Other or Unknown | County | 16 | Unknown |
| Longmire Community Park Local Park | Town or city | 13 | Open |
| Loth182 Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 10 | Open |
| Cochrane Memorial Park Local Park | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Yelm City Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
Things to do
25 places to go in Yelm
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Yelm
16 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Yelm
Yelm Dog Park
DirectionsScenic views in Yelm
Backside Up Viewpoint
DirectionsPeaks in Yelm
Severe Hill476 ft elevation
DirectionsRollover Hill463 ft elevation
DirectionsBackside Up453 ft elevation
DirectionsSerious Hill420 ft elevation
DirectionsCommunity gardens in Yelm
3 community gardens without a name on the map.
Trails & water
25 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 2.9 miHorses · 1.0 miUnpaved · 16.0 mi
Ranch Loop2.0 mi
Yelm XC Course1.3 mi
Power Lines Trail1.1 mi
Summers1.0 mi
Box Top1.0 mi
JBLM Boundary Trail0.9 mi
Lesser-Ranch Trail0.8 mi
To the Left0.7 mi
Straight Away0.7 mi
Walsh0.6 mi
15 more trails
Brazil
0.6 miCottonwood
0.6 miThree Ponds
0.6 miEast To West Trail
0.5 miSpooky Woods
0.5 miGeszvain
0.4 miOvergrown Mess
0.4 miHorn Meadow
0.4 miLost Dog
0.3 miDivorce
0.3 miDeer Meadow
0.3 miAndujar
0.3 miNettle
0.2 miMiddle School Trail
0.2 miMcgreevy
0.2 miLakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
9.6 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
5.7 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
3.3 mi
off-road bike paths
0.7 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
13Baseball
9Basketball
9Tracks
6Tennis
4Soccer
3Football
2Softball
1Skate park
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 5 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Salsich Lumber Company Superintendent's HouseBuilding · listed 1988
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Yelm: 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 | 15.0 | 15.9 | 15.5 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.5 |
| High (°F) | 47 | 50 | 54 | 59 | 66 | 71 | 78 | 78 | 72 | 60 | 51 | 46 |
| Rain (in) | 5.6 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 3.7 | 2.6 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 1.8 | 4.1 | 6.2 | 6.1 |
July is the driest month (0.7 in) and August the warmest (highs of 78 °F). 6.2 inches fall in November, the wettest month. The climate in Yelm →
Next door
Yelm and its neighbors
Yelm has the most mapped trails of the 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yelm | 1% | 3.4 | 6 | 85% | B |
| North Yelm | 12% | 0.4 | 2 | 69% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Yelm
Where can I hike in Yelm?
The longest trail networks: YHS Prairie, 1.4 miles; Cochrane Memorial Park, 0.5 miles; Longmire Community Park, 0.1 miles; Yelm City Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Yelm 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 Yelm’s trails?
YHS Prairie and Cochrane Memorial Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Yelm?
9.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 5.7 of painted or protected lanes, 3.3 of off-road paths and 0.7 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Yelm?
11,065 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Yelm or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 63 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Yelm have?
Ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #176 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 Yelm 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 →