Princeton City Park Walking Trails
Managed by City of Princeton
19 acres1.1 mi of trail
Orange TrailYellow TrailGreen TrailPurple Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Princetonnative · CC BY 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Princeton
Princeton has 53 acres of parks, 9.2 for every 1,000 residents
94% of residents live within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Princeton City Park Walking Trails (1.1 mi), Princeton Youth Park (0.8 mi). 2.0 miles of mapped trail cross Princeton, 0.7 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 64% of U.S. towns · #22 of 61 in West Virginia. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
49 acres · of 3.0 sq mi of land
Trails
2.0 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
53 ac
9.2 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
94%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Princeton?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Princeton have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Princeton is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns, #22 of 61 in West Virginia. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Princeton’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical WV town 2% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · WV 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land9.2 acres of park per 1,000 residents (53 acres) · WV 10 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home94% of residents within a half mile of a park · WV 71% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 64%
LessMore
West Virginia towns of 2,500+ (61)Ahead of 65%
Few West Virginia towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Princeton’s 2% is ahead of 53% of West Virginia towns, while its trails per square mile lead 70% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to B+. 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 Princeton City Park Walking Trails, with 1.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Princeton Youth Park
Park
18 acres0.8 mi of trail
Red TrailBlue Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Princeton Recreation Center
Managed by City of Princeton
8 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 6 parks & preserves
Princeton City Park Walking Trails19 acres · 1.1 mi of trail · City of Princeton
DirectionsPrinceton Youth Park18 acres · 0.8 mi of trail
DirectionsPrinceton Recreation Center8 acres · City of Princeton
Knob Street Park2 acres
DirectionsKiwanis Park1 acres
DirectionsPrinceton City Park1 acres
Who protects it
49 conserved acres
2% of Princeton’s land. Who manages Princeton’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city48 ac
Not recorded37 ac
Local Park · 78 acLocal Recreation Area · 8 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Princeton City Park Local Park | Not recorded | 75 | Open |
| Princeton Recreation Center Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
Things to do
9 places to go in Princeton
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Princeton
Princeton City PoolIn Princeton Youth Park
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Princeton
Princeton City Park PlaygroundIn Princeton Youth Park
DirectionsPrinceton Rec Center PlaygroundIn Princeton Recreation Center
DirectionsPlus 6 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
6 named trails
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.2 mi
Orange Trail0.4 mi
Red Trail0.3 mi
Blue Trail0.3 mi
Yellow Trail0.2 mi
Green Trail0.2 mi
Purple Trail0.2 mi
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
6Tennis
4Basketball
1Baseball
1Football
1Softball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →6 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 2 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Dr. James W. Hale HouseBuilding · listed 1976
About itMercer County CourthouseBuilding · listed 1980
About itDr. Robert B. McNutt HouseBuilding · listed 2001
About itVirginian Railway Yard Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2003
About itMercer Street Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2003
About itPrinceton Post OfficeBuilding · listed 2020
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Princeton: 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) | 9.9 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 13.1 | 14.2 | 14.7 | 14.5 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.2 | 10.1 | 9.6 |
| High (°F) | 42 | 45 | 53 | 65 | 73 | 79 | 82 | 80 | 75 | 65 | 54 | 45 |
| Rain (in) | 3.1 | 2.8 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 4.6 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 3.4 | 3.2 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 3.1 |
November is the driest month (2.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.6 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Princeton →
Questions about parks and trails in Princeton
Where can I hike in Princeton?
The longest trail networks: Princeton City Park Walking Trails, 1.1 miles; Princeton Youth Park, 0.8 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Princeton is conserved land?
2% 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 Princeton’s trails?
Princeton City Park Walking Trails and Princeton Youth Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Princeton?
4,623 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Princeton or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 53 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Princeton have?
Ahead of 64% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #22 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 Princeton 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 →