Photo: Jeremy Weate · CC BY 2.0Willits has 35 acres of parks, 7.1 for every 1,000 residents
2.9 miles of mapped trail cross Willits, 1.0 per square mile of land. 77% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 2% of Willits’ land is conserved, about 34 acres.
Ahead of 56% of U.S. towns · #468 of 847 in California. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Willits?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Willits have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Willits is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns, #468 of 847 in California. 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.
Pick a walk
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Highway Twenty Park
All 5 parks & preserves
34 conserved acres
2% of Willits’ land. Who manages Willits’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1 acre is a conservation easement, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recreation Grove Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 26 | Open |
| Recreation Grove Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Willits City Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Babcock Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Willits Kids Club Discovery Park and Playground Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 1 | Open |
9 places to go in Willits
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
8 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
1 named trail
4.0 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.
4 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 2 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
The best walking months in Willits: May and 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.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.7 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 54 | 57 | 60 | 64 | 72 | 79 | 88 | 87 | 84 | 74 | 60 | 53 |
| Rain (in) | 9.4 | 8.2 | 7.0 | 3.5 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 5.4 | 10.2 |
July is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 10.2 inches fall in December, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Willits →
Willits and its neighbors
Willits 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willits | 2% | 1.0 | 7 | 77% | B |
| Brooktrails | 47% | 2.3 | 485 | 99%+ | A+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Willits
Where can I hike in Willits?
The longest trail networks: Willits City Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Willits 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.
Are dogs allowed on Willits’ trails?
Recreation Grove Park and Fairgrounds don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Willits?
4.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.9 of painted or protected lanes and 1.1 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Willits?
27,145 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Willits or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 35 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Willits have?
Ahead of 56% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #468 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 Willits 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 →