Ridenour Memorial Park
Managed by City of Nitro
82 acres3.3 mi of trail
NNAT/Lake TrailDisco DownhillDig DugHigh Lake Trail+1
Dogs on leash
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: SuperDalio · CC BY-SA 4.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Nitro
Nitro has 7.2 miles of mapped trails, 1.3 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Ridenour Memorial Park (3.3 mi). 132 acres are parks and preserves, 19 per 1,000 residents. 3% of Nitro’s land is conserved, about 103 acres.
Ahead of 69% of U.S. towns · #15 of 61 in West Virginia. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
103 acres · of 5.3 sq mi of land
Trails
7.2 mi
1.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
132 ac
19 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
61%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
4 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Nitro?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Nitro have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Nitro is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns, #15 of 61 in West Virginia. Trail miles hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Nitro’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical WV town 2% · U.S. 4%B−Trails1.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (7 mi) · WV 0.3 · U.S. 0.4APark land19 acres of park per 1,000 residents (132 acres) · WV 10 · U.S. 13BParks close to home61% 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 77%
Few West Virginia towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Nitro’s 3% is ahead of 58% of West Virginia towns, while its trails per square mile lead 88% of them.
Water is 10% of Nitro’s area (1 of 6 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 3%.
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 Ridenour Memorial Park, with 3.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
103 conserved acres
3% of Nitro’s land. Water is left out: Nitro has 5.3 square miles of land and 0.6 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Nitro’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city103 ac
Not recorded103 ac
Local Park · 205 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ridenour Lake Local Park | Not recorded | 127 | Open |
| Nitro City Park Local Park | Town or city | 78 | Open |
Things to do
8 places to go in Nitro
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Nitro
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Nitro
1 dog park without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Nitro
KayakIn Ridenour Memorial Park
DirectionsPlus 3 boat launches without a name on the map.
Community gardens in Nitro
1 community garden without a name on the map.
Trails & water
16 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 3.6 miUnpaved · 5.0 mi
NNAT/Lake Trail0.8 mi
Service Road 0010.6 mi
Disco Downhill0.5 mi
Cracker Jack0.4 mi
Green Machine Loop0.4 mi
Dig Dug0.3 mi
WildKatz0.3 mi
RADenour0.3 mi
High Lake Trail0.3 mi
Drifter0.2 mi
6 more trails
Sit'n Spin
0.2 miBoomtown
0.2 miKaya DH
0.1 miZenSOM
0.1 miDuck Hunt
0.1 miDeer Path
0.1 miLakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
9Pickleball
6Baseball
6Tennis
4Basketball
1Soccer
1Softball
1Football
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).
West Virginia Schools for the Colored Deaf & BlindBuilding · listed 2021
About itWhen to get out
April is the best month for walking in Nitro
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) | 9.8 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.2 | 14.8 | 14.6 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 44 | 48 | 57 | 70 | 77 | 84 | 87 | 86 | 81 | 69 | 58 | 47 |
| Rain (in) | 3.2 | 3.2 | 4.1 | 3.6 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 4.9 | 3.7 | 3.4 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.6 |
November is the driest month (3.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 4.9 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Nitro →
Next door
Nitro and its neighbors
Nitro 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nitro | 3% | 1.3 | 19 | 61% | B+ |
| Teays Valley | under 1% | 0.8 | 1 | 17% | C− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Nitro
Where can I hike in Nitro?
The longest trail networks: Ridenour Memorial Park, 3.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Nitro 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 Nitro’s trails?
OpenStreetMap records dogs as welcome at Ridenour Memorial Park (on leash). For the rest, check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Nitro?
15,886 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Nitro or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 132 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Nitro have?
Ahead of 69% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #15 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 Nitro 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 →