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B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Upper Lake

Upper Lake has 9 acres of parks, 6.3 for every 1,000 residents

1.8 miles of mapped trail cross Upper Lake, 1.1 per square mile of land. 1% of Upper Lake’s land is conserved, about 12 acres. 66% of residents live within a half mile of a park.

Ahead of 48% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Conserved land
1%
12 acres · of 1.7 sq mi of land
Trails
1.8 mi
1.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
9 ac
6.3 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
66%
of residents within ½ mile

What kind of outdoors town is Upper Lake?

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

A trail town1.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 81% of U.S. towns.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Upper Lake have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Upper Lake is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.

B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Upper Lake’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical CA town 4% · U.S. 4%CTrails1.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · CA 0.9 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land6.3 acres of park per 1,000 residents (9 acres) · CA 5 · U.S. 13CParks close to home66% 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 48%
LessMore
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.

1
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 Upper Lake County Park, with 0.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Upper Lake County Park

Park
8 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it

12 conserved acres

1% of Upper Lake’s land. Who manages Upper Lake’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

County8 ac
U.S. Forest Service4 ac
Local Park · 8 acNational Forest · 4 ac
The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Upper Lake County Park
Local Park
County8Open
Mendocino Other
National Forest
U.S. Forest Service4Open
Things to do

3 places to go in Upper Lake

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

Playgrounds in Upper Lake

3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.

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
4Basketball
3Baseball
1Tennis
1Soccer

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

When to get out

The best walking months in Upper Lake: April to June

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)9.710.711.813.214.314.914.713.712.411.110.09.4
High (°F)565963687685939287776355
Rain (in)7.66.75.32.51.60.40.00.10.21.74.17.4

July is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and the warmest (highs of 93 °F). 7.6 inches fall in January, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 93 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Upper Lake →

Questions about parks and trails in Upper Lake

Where can I hike in Upper Lake?

The longest trail networks: Upper Lake County Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Upper Lake is conserved land?

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 Upper Lake’s trails?

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

Is there public land near Upper Lake?

60,465 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Upper Lake or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 12 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Upper Lake have?

Ahead of 48% 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 Upper Lake 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 →