Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
Managed by National Park Service
1,207 acres6.2 mi of trail
Dogs usually limited
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: CameronK23 · CC BY 3.0C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Lake Sherwood
Lake Sherwood has 10 miles of mapped trails, 3.3 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (6.2 mi). 1 acre is park or preserve, 0.8 per 1,000 residents. 53% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 37% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
2 acres · of 3.1 sq mi of land
Trails
10 mi
3.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
1 ac
0.8 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
53%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.5 mi
2.5 mi lanes
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Lake Sherwood?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Lake Sherwood have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Lake Sherwood is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Lake Sherwood’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical CA town 4% · U.S. 4%C−Trails3.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (10 mi) · CA 0.9 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land0.8 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1 acre) · CA 5 · U.S. 13DParks close to home53% 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 37%
LessMore
Water is 6% of Lake Sherwood’s area (0 of 3 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read under 1%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from D 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 Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, with 6.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Lyon's Pentachaeta Conservation Area
Nature preserve
128 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
South Ranch Open Space
Managed by Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Lake Eleanor Open Space
Managed by Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
2 conserved acres
under 1% of Lake Sherwood’s land. Water is left out: Lake Sherwood has 3.1 square miles of land and 0.2 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Lake Sherwood’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city1 ac
Regional agency1 ac
Local Park · 1 acLocal Recreation Area · 1 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maid Marian Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Lake Eleanor Open Space Local Recreation Area | Regional agency | 1 | Closed |
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
2.5 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.5 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
Courts & fields
10Tennis
3Pickleball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Lake Sherwood: April to July
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) | 10.1 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 13.9 | 14.4 | 14.2 | 13.4 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.3 | 9.9 |
| High (°F) | 67 | 66 | 68 | 71 | 74 | 78 | 84 | 86 | 84 | 78 | 72 | 66 |
| Rain (in) | 3.5 | 3.8 | 2.4 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 2.9 |
August is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 3.8 inches fall in February, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 86 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Lake Sherwood →
Next door
Lake Sherwood and its neighbors
Lake Sherwood 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Sherwood | under 1% | 3.3 | 1 | 53% | C+ |
| Thousand Oaks | 39% | 4.1 | 101 | 99% | A+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Lake Sherwood
Where can I hike in Lake Sherwood?
The longest trail networks: Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, 6.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Lake Sherwood is conserved land?
under 1% 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 Lake Sherwood’s trails?
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and Lyon's Pentachaeta Conservation Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Lake Sherwood?
2.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.5 of painted or protected lanes.
Is there public land near Lake Sherwood?
78,717 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Lake Sherwood or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Lake Sherwood have?
Ahead of 37% 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 Lake Sherwood 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 →