Veterans Park
Managed by Willow Creek Community Services District
9 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Bob Doran from Arcata, USA · CC BY 2.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Willow Creek
More than half of Willow Creek’s land is conserved: 55%
55% of Willow Creek’s land is conserved, about 10,663 acres. 29 miles of mapped trail cross Willow Creek, 1.0 per square mile of land. 24% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 73% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
55%
10,663 acres · of 30.3 sq mi of land
Trails
29 mi
1.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
17 ac
16 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
24%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.6 mi
2.6 mi lanes
Highest peak
3,973 ft
Brannan Mountain
Lakes & rivers
1
7 beaches · 1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Willow Creek?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Willow Creek have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Willow Creek is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Willow Creek’s overall grade.
Conserved land55% of the land · typical CA town 4% · U.S. 4%A+Trails1.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (29 mi) · CA 0.9 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land16 acres of park per 1,000 residents (17 acres) · CA 5 · U.S. 13BParks close to home24% 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 73%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. 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.
Creekside Park in Willow Creek
Managed by Willow Creek Community Services District
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Candystick Park
Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Commons Park in Willow Creek, CA
Managed by Willow Creek Community Services District
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
10,663 conserved acres
55% of Willow Creek’s land. Who manages Willow Creek’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service10,397 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits253 ac
Regional agency16 ac
National Forest · 10,397 acUnknown Easement · 175 acConservation Easement · 78 acLocal Park · 16 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 253 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Six Rivers National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 10,397 | Open |
| Veterans Park Local Park | Regional agency | 16 | Open |
Things to do
16 places to go in Willow Creek
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Willow Creek
Hlel-Din River Access/South Fork & Trinity confluence
DirectionsKimtu Beach on Trinity River
DirectionsPlus 5 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Playgrounds in Willow Creek
2 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Boat launches in Willow Creek
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Scenic views in Willow Creek
2 scenic views without a name on the map.
Peaks in Willow Creek
Brannan Mountain3,973 ft elevation
DirectionsCampgrounds in Willow Creek
kimtu camping
DirectionsDisc golf in Willow Creek
Chinook Samon Disc Golf Course at Creek Side ParkIn Creekside Park in Willow Creek · Creekside Park
DirectionsCommunity gardens in Willow Creek
Willow Creek Community Garden
DirectionsTrails & water
5 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 3.7 mi
Four Mile Road Spur B1.0 mi
Friday Spur Road Spur B1.0 mi
Friday Spur Road Spur C0.7 mi
Panther Ridge Road Spur A0.4 mi
Friday Spur Road Spur A0.3 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
2.6 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.6 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
Courts & fields
3Baseball
2Soccer
1Basketball
1Tennis
1Skate park
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Willow Creek: May, June and September
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) | 9.5 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.4 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 52 | 56 | 62 | 67 | 75 | 83 | 91 | 91 | 86 | 73 | 57 | 49 |
| Rain (in) | 9.5 | 7.6 | 7.1 | 4.2 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 3.0 | 6.3 | 11.1 |
July is the driest month (0.1 in) and the warmest (highs of 91 °F). 11.1 inches fall in December, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 91 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Willow Creek →
Next door
Willow Creek and its neighbors
Willow Creek has the 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willow Creek | 55% | 1.0 | 16 | 24% | B+ |
| Salyer | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Willow Creek
How much of Willow Creek is conserved land?
55% 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 Willow Creek’s trails?
Veterans Park and Creekside Park in Willow Creek don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Willow Creek?
2.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.6 of painted or protected lanes.
Is there public land near Willow Creek?
120,571 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Willow Creek or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 9,737 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Willow Creek have?
Ahead of 73% 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 Willow Creek 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 →