Mission Trails Preserve
Park
34 acres2 mi of trail
Serra TrailFlanders TrailDolittle TrailDoolittle trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 4.0A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Carmel-by-the-Sea
8% of Carmel-by-the-Sea’s land is conserved, and virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 3.1 miles of mapped trail cross Carmel-by-the-Sea, 2.9 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Mission Trails Preserve (2 mi), Carmel Beach City Park (0.6 mi).
Ahead of 96% of U.S. towns · #90 of 847 in California. What drives it
Conserved land
8%
55 acres · of 1.1 sq mi of land
Trails
3.1 mi
2.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
96 ac
30 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Carmel-by-the-Sea?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Carmel-by-the-Sea have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Carmel-by-the-Sea is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns, #90 of 847 in California. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; trail miles rank highest, park acres per resident lowest.
A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Carmel-by-the-Sea’s overall grade.
Conserved land8% of the land · typical CA town 4% · U.S. 4%B+Trails2.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · CA 0.9 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land30 acres of park per 1,000 residents (96 acres) · CA 5 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · CA 91% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 96%
LessMore
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 89%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A 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 Mission Trails Preserve, with 2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Carmel Beach City Park
Park
39 acres0.6 mi of trail
Carmel Beach Walk
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Forest Hills Park
Park
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 6 parks & preserves
Mission Trails Preserve34 acres · 2 mi of trail
DirectionsCarmel Beach City Park39 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
DirectionsForest Hill Park2 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Carmel Youth Baseball Larson Field4 acres
DirectionsForest Hills Park4 acres
Devendorf Park1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
55 conserved acres
8% of Carmel-by-the-Sea’s land. Who manages Carmel-by-the-Sea’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city54 ac
Local Conservation Area · 33 acLocal Park · 21 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mission Trail Nature Preserve Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 33 | Open |
| Carmel Beach City Park Local Park | Town or city | 15 | Open |
| Larson Field Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Forest Hill Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Devendorf Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Carmel-by-the-Sea
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Carmel-by-the-Sea
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Scenic views in Carmel-by-the-Sea
ViewIn Carmel Beach City Park
DirectionsTrails & water
5 named trails
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.2 mi
Carmel Beach Walk0.6 mi
Serra Trail0.5 mi
Flanders Trail0.2 mi
Dolittle Trail0.2 mi
Doolittle trail0.1 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
4Beach volleyball
2Baseball
2Tennis
1Basketball
1Volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →4 places on the National Register, one a National Historic Landmark
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 3 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Carmel-by-the-Sea: April 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.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.9 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 13.1 | 14.1 | 14.6 | 14.4 | 13.5 | 12.4 | 11.2 | 10.2 | 9.7 |
| High (°F) | 60 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 68 | 63 | 59 |
| Rain (in) | 3.7 | 3.4 | 3.0 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 3.4 |
July is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and September the warmest (highs of 68 °F). 3.7 inches fall in January, the wettest month. The climate in Carmel-by-the-Sea →
Next door
Carmel-by-the-Sea and its neighbors
Carmel-by-the-Sea has the second 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carmel-by-the-Sea | 8% | 2.9 | 30 | 99%+ | A+ |
| Del Monte Forest | 3% | 4.9 | 46 | 70% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Carmel-by-the-Sea
Where can I hike in Carmel-by-the-Sea?
The longest trail networks: Mission Trails Preserve, 2 miles; Carmel Beach City Park, 0.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Carmel-by-the-Sea is conserved land?
8% 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.
Are dogs allowed on Carmel-by-the-Sea’s trails?
Mission Trails Preserve and Carmel Beach City Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Carmel-by-the-Sea?
12,957 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Carmel-by-the-Sea or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 96 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Carmel-by-the-Sea have?
Ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #90 of 847 in California. 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 Carmel-by-the-Sea 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 →