Glendale Park & Skatepark
Park
36 acres0.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) · CC BY-SA 2.5B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Elkins
Elkins has 75 acres of parks, 11 for every 1,000 residents
3.9 miles of mapped trail cross Elkins, 1.1 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Glendale Park & Skatepark (0.9 mi), Riverbend Park (0.6 mi). 86% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 69% of U.S. towns · #16 of 61 in West Virginia. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
69 acres · of 3.7 sq mi of land
Trails
3.9 mi
1.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
75 ac
11 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
86%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.6 mi
1.6 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Elkins?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Elkins have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Elkins is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns, #16 of 61 in West Virginia. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Elkins’ overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical WV town 2% · U.S. 4%B−Trails1.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (4 mi) · WV 0.3 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land11 acres of park per 1,000 residents (75 acres) · WV 10 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home86% of residents within a half mile of a park · WV 71% · U.S. 72%B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 69%
LessMore
West Virginia towns of 2,500+ (61)Ahead of 75%
Few West Virginia towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Elkins’ 3% is ahead of 57% of West Virginia towns, while its trails per square mile lead 82% of them.
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 Glendale Park & Skatepark, with 0.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
All 5 parks & preserves
Glendale Park & Skatepark36 acres · 0.9 mi of trail
DirectionsRiverbend Park18 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
DirectionsElkins City Park9 acres
DirectionsBluegrass Park4 acres
DirectionsVeteran's Memorial Park2 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
69 conserved acres
3% of Elkins’ land. Who manages Elkins’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city63 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government2 ac
U.S. Forest Service2 ac
State natural resources2 ac
Not recorded65 ac
Local Park · 128 acUnknown · 2 acNational Forest · 2 acState Resource Management Area · 2 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glendale Park Local Park | Not recorded | 71 | Open |
| River Bend Park Local Park | Not recorded | 31 | Open |
| Elkins City Park Local Park | Not recorded | 16 | Open |
| Bluegrass Park Local Park | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Veterans Memorial Park Unknown | Not recorded | 4 | Open |
| Monongahela National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 2 | Open |
| Scotss Ford PAS State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 2 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Elkins
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Elkins
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Elkins
Scotts Ford Public Access Site
DirectionsTrails & water
7 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 2.0 miUnpaved · 0.8 mi
Original Loop Trail0.7 mi
Champion's Ridge Trail0.3 mi
0040.3 mi
0030.2 mi
0110.1 mi
0020.1 mi
0050.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
1.6 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.6 mi
off-road bike paths
Original Loop TrailBike route
0.7 mi004Bike route
0.3 miChampion's Ridge TrailBike route
0.3 miCourts & fields
8Soccer
8Baseball
1Basketball
1Skate park
1Football
1Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →22 places on the National Register, 3 of them National Historic Landmarks
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.
Albert and Liberal Arts HallsBuilding · listed 1979
About itPinecrestBuilding · listed 1979
About itRandolph County Courthouse and JailBuilding · listed 1980
About itGov. H. Guy Kump HouseBuilding · listed 1983
About itTaylor-Condry HouseBuilding · listed 1983
About itDavis Memorial Presbyterian ChurchBuilding · listed 1984
About itWest Virginia Children's HomeDistrict · listed 1994
About itDowntown Elkins Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1995
About itWarfield-Dye ResidenceBuilding · listed 1997
About it10 more on the History page.
When to get out
The best walking months in Elkins: April and August
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) | 9.7 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 14.6 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 40 | 44 | 52 | 65 | 72 | 79 | 82 | 81 | 76 | 65 | 54 | 44 |
| Rain (in) | 3.5 | 3.4 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 5.4 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 3.5 | 3.0 | 3.9 |
November is the driest month (3.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 6.0 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Elkins →
Questions about parks and trails in Elkins
Where can I hike in Elkins?
The longest trail networks: Glendale Park & Skatepark, 0.9 miles; Riverbend Park, 0.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Elkins is conserved land?
3% of its land, against a typical 2% for a West Virginia town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Elkins’ trails?
Glendale Park & Skatepark and Riverbend Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Elkins?
1.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.6 of off-road paths. Named routes: Original Loop Trail, 004 and Champion's Ridge Trail.
Is there public land near Elkins?
14,884 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Elkins or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 77 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Elkins have?
Ahead of 69% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #16 of 61 in West Virginia. 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 Elkins 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 →