Boerner Botanical Gardens
Managed by Milwaukee County Parks
26 acres2.9 mi of trail
Bog WalkDaylily Walk
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Gkowalski · CC BY-SA 3.0A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Hales Corners
Hales Corners has 6.9 miles of mapped trails, 2.2 for every square mile of land
99% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 15% of Hales Corners’ land is conserved, about 298 acres. 309 acres are parks and preserves, 40 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 97% of U.S. towns · #10 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it
Conserved land
15%
298 acres · of 3.2 sq mi of land
Trails
6.9 mi
2.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
309 ac
40 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.6 mi
0.3 mi lanes · 0.4 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Hales Corners?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Hales Corners have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Hales Corners is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns, #10 of 362 in Wisconsin. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; trail miles rank highest, park acres per resident lowest.
A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Hales Corners’ overall grade.
Conserved land15% of the land · typical WI town 4% · U.S. 4%A−Trails2.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (7 mi) · WI 0.4 · U.S. 0.4APark land40 acres of park per 1,000 residents (309 acres) · WI 31 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home99% of residents within a half mile of a park · WI 90% · U.S. 72%A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 97%
LessMore
Wisconsin towns of 2,500+ (362)Ahead of 98%
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
The longest trail network is Boerner Botanical Gardens, with 2.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Potter's Forest
Nature preserve
52 acres1.7 mi of trail
Potter's Forest Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Whitnall Park
Managed by Milwaukee County Parks
230 acres1.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 6 parks & preserves
Boerner Botanical Gardens26 acres · 2.9 mi of trail · Milwaukee County Parks
DirectionsPotter's Forest52 acres · 1.7 mi of trail
DirectionsWhitnall Park230 acres · 1.1 mi of trail · Milwaukee County Parks
DirectionsHales Corners Park34 acres · 1 mi of trail
DirectionsSchoetz Park21 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsVillage Park11 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
298 conserved acres
15% of Hales Corners’ land. Who manages Hales Corners’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County268 ac
Town or city27 ac
Not recorded263 ac
Local Park · 557 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whitnall Park Local Park | County | 464 | Open |
| Hales Corners Park Local Park | Not recorded | 33 | Open |
| Hales Corner Park Local Park | County | 33 | Open |
| Schoetz Park Local Park | Town or city | 21 | Open |
| Village Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
Things to do
15 places to go in Hales Corners
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Hales Corners
Hales Corners PoolIn Hales Corners Park
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Hales Corners
11 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Picnic areas in Hales Corners
Picnic Area 6In Whitnall Park
DirectionsPicnic Area 7In Whitnall Park
DirectionsPicnic Area 8In Whitnall Park
DirectionsTrails & water
3 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.7 mi
Potter's Forest Trail0.7 mi
Bog Walk0.1 mi
Daylily Walk0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.6 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.3 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
0.4 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
11Baseball
4Basketball
1Soccer
1Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places 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.
When to get out
September is the best month for walking in Hales Corners
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 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.7 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 29 | 33 | 44 | 56 | 68 | 77 | 82 | 80 | 73 | 60 | 46 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 1.7 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 3.3 | 2.9 | 2.2 | 1.9 |
February is the driest month (1.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.5 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Hales Corners →
Next door
Hales Corners and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hales Corners | 15% | 2.2 | 40 | 99% | A+ |
| Greenfield | 3% | 0.5 | 15 | 96% | B+ |
| Greendale | 22% | 1.1 | 80 | 99%+ | A+ |
| Franklin | 9% | 0.7 | 107 | 92% | A |
| New Berlin | 5% | 0.5 | 31 | 90% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Hales Corners
Where can I hike in Hales Corners?
The longest trail networks: Boerner Botanical Gardens, 2.9 miles; Potter's Forest, 1.7 miles; Whitnall Park, 1.1 miles; Hales Corners Park, 1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Hales Corners is conserved land?
15% 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 Hales Corners’ trails?
Boerner Botanical Gardens and Potter's Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Hales Corners?
0.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.3 of painted or protected lanes and 0.4 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Hales Corners?
19,483 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Hales Corners or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 309 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Hales Corners have?
Ahead of 97% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #10 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 Hales Corners 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 →