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AOutdoors
Outdoors in Chester

Chester has 9.5 miles of mapped trails, 1.3 for every square mile of land

112 acres are parks and preserves, 64 per 1,000 residents. 10% of Chester’s land is conserved, about 463 acres. 59% of residents live within a half mile of a park.

Ahead of 86% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Conserved land
10%
463 acres · of 7.3 sq mi of land
Trails
9.5 mi
1.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
112 ac
64 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
59%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1

What kind of outdoors town is Chester?

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

A trail town1.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 86% of U.S. towns.Land that stays wild10% of the land is conserved; a typical California town, 4%.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Chester have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Chester is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.

A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Chester’s overall grade.
Conserved land10% of the land · typical CA town 4% · U.S. 4%A−Trails1.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (10 mi) · CA 0.9 · U.S. 0.4APark land64 acres of park per 1,000 residents (112 acres) · CA 5 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home59% of residents within a half mile of a park · CA 91% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 86%
LessMore
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.

1
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk

Pick a walk

Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Chester Park

Park
9 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it

463 conserved acres

10% of Chester’s land. Who manages Chester’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

U.S. Forest Service313 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits102 ac
Bureau of Land Management40 ac
County5 ac
Regional agency3 ac
National Forest · 313 acPrivate Conservation · 102 acNational Public Lands · 40 acLocal Recreation Area · 8 ac
The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Lassen National Forest
National Forest
U.S. Forest Service313Open
Olsen Barn
Private Conservation
Land trusts & nonprofits102Open
Eagle Lake Field Office
National Public Lands
Bureau of Land Management40Open
Chester Park and Ballfields
Local Recreation Area
County5Open
Truman Collins Sports Complex
Local Recreation Area
Regional agency3Open
Things to do

1 places to go in Chester

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

Playgrounds in Chester

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

Trails & water

1 lakes & rivers

Lakes & rivers tap for directions
North Fork Feather River
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
4Baseball
4Pickleball
1Volleyball
1Tennis
1Football

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

When to get out

The best walking months in Chester: May, June 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.610.611.813.214.415.014.813.812.411.09.99.3
High (°F)444752586777868579665143
Rain (in)6.25.85.42.71.90.80.20.20.31.83.56.4

August is the driest month (0.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 6.4 inches fall in December, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 86 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Chester →

Questions about parks and trails in Chester

How much of Chester is conserved land?

10% 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 Chester’s trails?

Chester Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Is there public land near Chester?

92,596 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Chester or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 467 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Chester have?

Ahead of 86% 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 Chester 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 →