Taylor County Educational Campus
Park
60 acres0.5 mi of trail
Campus Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Medford Post Office · Photo: Jeff the quiet · CC0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Medford
96% of residents live within a half mile of a park in Medford
216 acres are parks and preserves, 49 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Taylor County Educational Campus (0.5 mi). 5% of Medford’s land is conserved, about 146 acres.
Ahead of 75% of U.S. towns · #136 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
146 acres · of 4.5 sq mi of land
Trails
0.9 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
216 ac
49 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
96%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.6 mi
0.6 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
3
What kind of outdoors town is Medford?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Medford have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Medford is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns, #136 of 362 in Wisconsin. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Medford’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical WI town 4% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · WI 0.4 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land49 acres of park per 1,000 residents (216 acres) · WI 31 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home96% 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 75%
LessMore
Wisconsin towns of 2,500+ (362)Ahead of 63%
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 Taylor County Educational Campus, with 0.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
All 5 parks & preserves
Taylor County Educational Campus60 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
DirectionsMedford City Park88 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
DirectionsTaylor County Fairgrounds35 acres
DirectionsGrahl Park6 acres
DirectionsVeterans' Memorial Park1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
146 conserved acres
5% of Medford’s land. Who manages Medford’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Private owners118 ac
Town or city26 ac
U.S. Forest Service3 ac
Private Park · 118 acLocal Park · 26 acNational Forest · 3 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golf Course Private Park | Private owners | 118 | Open |
| Medford City Park Local Park | Town or city | 13 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Grahl Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Chequamegon National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 3 | Open |
| Veterans' Memorial Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
8 places to go in Medford
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Medford
7 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Campgrounds in Medford
Medford City Park CampgroundFee · In Medford City Park
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Campus Trail0.5 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.
0.6 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
8Tennis
6Baseball
6Pickleball
3Basketball
3Soccer
1Volleyball
1Skate park
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →4 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The walking year in Medford
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) | 9.1 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 21 | 26 | 39 | 53 | 66 | 75 | 79 | 77 | 69 | 55 | 39 | 26 |
| Rain (in) | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 2.9 | 3.8 | 4.8 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 3.1 | 1.9 | 1.4 |
January is the driest month (1.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 79 °F). 4.8 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Medford →
Next door
Medford and its neighbors
Medford 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medford | 5% | 0.2 | 49 | 96% | A− |
| Deer Creek | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Medford
Where can I hike in Medford?
The longest trail networks: Taylor County Educational Campus, 0.5 miles; Medford City Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Medford is conserved land?
5% 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 Medford’s trails?
Taylor County Educational Campus and Medford City Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Medford?
0.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.6 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Medford?
14,997 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Medford or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 219 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Medford have?
Ahead of 75% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #136 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 Medford 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 →