Photo: w_lemay · CC BY-SA 2.0Columbus has 52 acres of parks, 9.4 for every 1,000 residents
4.0 miles of mapped trail cross Columbus, 0.9 per square mile of land. 2% of Columbus’ land is conserved, about 48 acres. 78% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 57% of U.S. towns · #245 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Columbus?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Columbus have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Columbus is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns, #245 of 362 in Wisconsin. Trail miles hold 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
The longest trail network is Fireman's Park, with 0.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
48 conserved acres
2% of Columbus’ land. Who manages Columbus’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fireman'S Park Local Park | Town or city | 26 | Open |
| Kiwanis Park Local Park | Town or city | 14 | Open |
| Meister Park Local Park | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Washington Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
4 places to go in Columbus
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
1 lakes & rivers
3.2 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.
20 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
8 more on the History page.
September is the best month for walking in Columbus
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) | 9.3 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 27 | 31 | 43 | 56 | 69 | 78 | 82 | 80 | 73 | 60 | 45 | 32 |
| Rain (in) | 1.3 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 4.2 | 3.3 | 2.9 | 2.1 | 1.6 |
February is the driest month (1.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 5.0 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Columbus →
Columbus and its neighbors
Columbus 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbus | 2% | 0.9 | 9 | 78% | B |
| Elba | under 1% | under 0.1 | 116 | 20% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Columbus
Where can I hike in Columbus?
The longest trail networks: Fireman's Park, 0.2 miles; Kiwanis Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Columbus is conserved land?
2% of its land, against a typical 4% for a Wisconsin town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Columbus’ trails?
Fireman's Park and Kiwanis Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Columbus?
3.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.0 of painted or protected lanes and 0.2 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Columbus?
7,429 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Columbus or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 52 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Columbus have?
Ahead of 57% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #245 of 362 in Wisconsin. 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 Columbus 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 →