North Fork Recreation Area Memorial Park
Park
10 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in North Fork
28% of North Fork’s land is conserved: 5,799 acres
4% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 11 acres are parks and preserves, 3.7 per 1,000 residents. 12 miles of mapped trail cross North Fork, 0.4 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 43% of U.S. towns · #603 of 847 in California. What drives it
Conserved land
28%
5,799 acres · of 32.2 sq mi of land
Trails
12 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
11 ac
3.7 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
4%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
3,550 ft
Smiley Mountain
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is North Fork?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does North Fork have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, North Fork is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns, #603 of 847 in California. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of North Fork’s overall grade.
Conserved land28% of the land · typical CA town 4% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (12 mi) · CA 0.9 · U.S. 0.4BPark land3.7 acres of park per 1,000 residents (11 acres) · CA 5 · U.S. 13CParks close to home4% of residents within a half mile of a park · CA 91% · U.S. 72%D
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 43%
LessMore
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 29%
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
Places to walk
Pick a walk
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
5,799 conserved acres
28% of North Fork’s land. Who manages North Fork’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service5,206 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits598 ac
County183 ac
National Forest · 5,206 acUnknown Easement · 598 acLocal Other or Unknown · 183 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 460 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sierra National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 5,206 | Open |
| Manzanita Lake Local Other or Unknown | County | 132 | Open |
| Willow Creek Local Other or Unknown | County | 52 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in North Fork
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in North Fork
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Waterfalls in North Fork
1 waterfall without a name on the map.
Peaks in North Fork
Smiley Mountain3,550 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
2 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
South Fork Willow Creek Trail1.8 mi
Manzanita Lake Trail0.3 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
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
2Tennis
1Basketball
1Multi-sport
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in North Fork: April and May
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 | 14.7 | 14.5 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.2 | 10.1 | 9.6 |
| High (°F) | 57 | 58 | 62 | 67 | 76 | 87 | 95 | 94 | 88 | 77 | 64 | 56 |
| Rain (in) | 6.0 | 5.1 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 5.0 |
August is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 95 °F). 6.0 inches fall in January, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 95 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in North Fork →
Questions about parks and trails in North Fork
How much of North Fork is conserved land?
28% 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 North Fork’s trails?
North Fork Recreation Area Memorial Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near North Fork?
186,028 acres of parks and open public land lie inside North Fork or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 5,230 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does North Fork have?
Ahead of 43% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #603 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 North Fork 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 →