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Brookdale Lodge in Brookdale, CaliforniaPhoto: John Pilge · Public domain
B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Brookdale

Few parks or trails are on the map in Brookdale

14% of Brookdale’s land is conserved, about 358 acres. 35% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.9 miles of mapped trail cross Brookdale, 0.2 per square mile of land.

Ahead of 54% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Conserved land
14%
358 acres · of 3.8 sq mi of land
Trails
0.9 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
17 ac
13 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
35%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1

What kind of outdoors town is Brookdale?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Land that stays wild14% of the land is conserved; a typical California town, 4%.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Brookdale have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Brookdale is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.

B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Brookdale’s overall grade.
Conserved land14% of the land · typical CA town 4% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · CA 0.9 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land13 acres of park per 1,000 residents (17 acres) · CA 5 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home35% of residents within a half mile of a park · CA 91% · U.S. 72%C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 54%
LessMore
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Brookdale. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ 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
Who protects it

358 conserved acres

14% of Brookdale’s land. Who manages Brookdale’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Regional Water Districts324 ac
County24 ac
State parks10 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits2 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 324 acUnknown Easement · 24 acState Park · 10 acConservation Easement · 2 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 24 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
San Lorenzo Valley Water District
Local Other or Unknown
Regional Water Districts324Restricted
Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park
State Park
State parks10Open
Things to do

1 places to go in Brookdale

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Scenic views in Brookdale

1 scenic view without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.

Trails & water

1 lakes & rivers

Lakes & rivers tap for directions
San Lorenzo River
History along the way

1 place on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).

History →
Phillipshurst-RiverwoodBuilding · listed 1983
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in Brookdale: May to 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.910.811.913.114.114.714.513.612.411.210.19.6
High (°F)606164677278818281756659
Rain (in)8.47.86.12.71.10.30.00.00.11.74.08.2

July is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and August the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 8.4 inches fall in January, the wettest month. The climate in Brookdale →

Next door

Brookdale and its neighbors

Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Boulder Creek25 miBen Lomond20 miBrookdale0.9 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Brookdale14%0.21335%B−
Ben Lomond24%2.414898%A+
Boulder Creek19%3.4358%B+

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Brookdale

How much of Brookdale is conserved land?

14% of its land, against a typical 4% for a California town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.

Is there public land near Brookdale?

57,700 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Brookdale or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 17 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Brookdale have?

Ahead of 54% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Brookdale neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →