Photo: Stepheng3 at English Wikipedia · Public domainOccidental has 6.1 miles of mapped trails, 1.2 for every square mile of land
3 acres are parks and preserves, 2.1 per 1,000 residents. 31% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 2% of Occidental’s land is conserved, about 59 acres.
Ahead of 37% of U.S. towns. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Occidental?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Occidental have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Occidental is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
59 conserved acres
2% of Occidental’s land. Who manages Occidental’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 56 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Camp Meeker Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 2 | Open |
1 places to go in Occidental
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
1 named trail
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
The best walking months in Occidental: 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.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.8 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.2 | 14.8 | 14.6 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 57 | 59 | 61 | 64 | 69 | 74 | 76 | 78 | 78 | 73 | 63 | 57 |
| Rain (in) | 9.2 | 8.9 | 6.2 | 3.2 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 5.1 | 9.9 |
July is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and August the warmest (highs of 78 °F). 9.9 inches fall in December, the wettest month. The climate in Occidental →
Questions about parks and trails in Occidental
How much of Occidental is conserved land?
2% 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 Occidental?
10,353 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Occidental or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 3 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Occidental 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 Occidental neighbors.
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 →