Moosup Valley State Park Trail
Managed by State of Connecticut
48 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Sterling
24% of Sterling’s land is conserved: 4,156 acres
15 miles of mapped trail cross Sterling, 0.5 per square mile of land. 68 acres are parks and preserves, 19 per 1,000 residents. 31% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 69% of U.S. towns · #123 of 155 in Connecticut. What drives it
Conserved land
24%
4,156 acres · of 27.2 sq mi of land
Trails
15 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
68 ac
19 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
31%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.5 mi
3.5 mi paths
Highest peak
669 ft
Ekonk Hill
Lakes & rivers
7
What kind of outdoors town is Sterling?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Sterling have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Sterling is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns, #123 of 155 in Connecticut. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Sterling’s overall grade.
Conserved land24% of the land · typical CT town 15% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (15 mi) · CT 1.4 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land19 acres of park per 1,000 residents (68 acres) · CT 22 · U.S. 13BParks close to home31% of residents within a half mile of a park · CT 57% · U.S. 72%C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 69%
LessMore
Connecticut towns of 2,500+ (155)Ahead of 21%
Connecticut towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 15%; the U.S., 4%), so Sterling’s 24% is ahead of 77% of Connecticut towns, while its trails per square mile lead 8% of them.
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
The longest trail network is Moosup Valley State Park Trail, with 0.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Ross Marsh Wildlife Area
Managed by State of Connecticut
27 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Neil H. Cook Memorial Park
Managed by Town of Sterling
7 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Dr. Olav and Anna-Lisa Laakso Preserve
Managed by Wyndham Land Trust
5 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
All 6 parks & preserves
Moosup Valley State Park Trail48 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · State of Connecticut
DirectionsRoss Marsh Wildlife Area27 acres · State of Connecticut
Neil H. Cook Memorial Park7 acres · Town of Sterling
DirectionsDr. Olav and Anna-Lisa Laakso Preserve5 acres · Wyndham Land Trust
DirectionsSterling Radio Tower Site1 acres · State of Connecticut
Pitch Pine Grove Picnic Area1 acres · State of Connecticut
Who protects it
4,156 conserved acres
24% of Sterling’s land. Who manages Sterling’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Other state land981 ac
State conservation222 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)221 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government198 ac
Not recorded2,820 ac
State Resource Management Area · 2,585 acUnknown Easement · 1,178 acAgricultural Easement · 221 acLocal Other or Unknown · 207 acPrivate Conservation · 178 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,197 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 36 of 47 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pachaug State Forest State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 2,471 | Unknown |
| Unknown Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 385 | Unknown |
| Pachaug State Forest (Old Forest Management Area) State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 114 | Unknown |
| Moosup Valley State Park Trail State Park | Not recorded | 44 | Unknown |
| Ross Marsh Wildlife Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 26 | Unknown |
| Sterling Radio Tower Site State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 1 | Unknown |
Things to do
12 places to go in Sterling
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Sterling
6 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Peaks in Sterling
Ekonk Hill669 ft elevation
DirectionsGibson Hill620 ft elevation
DirectionsSterling Hill614 ft elevation
DirectionsPine Hill610 ft elevation
DirectionsCampgrounds in Sterling
River's Edge Campground
DirectionsSun Ridge Resort
DirectionsTrails & water
5 named trails and 7 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 7.5 mi
Pharisee Rock Trail1.1 mi
Pachaug Trail0.9 mi
Pachaug Enduro Trail0.2 mi
Netop Trail0.1 mi
rocky dirt washout0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
3.5 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
3.5 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
5Soccer
3Baseball
3Basketball
2Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Sterling: May to 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 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 37 | 39 | 47 | 58 | 69 | 77 | 82 | 80 | 74 | 62 | 52 | 42 |
| Rain (in) | 4.0 | 3.3 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 4.8 | 4.1 | 4.8 |
February is the driest month (3.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.8 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Sterling →
Next door
Sterling and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling | 24% | 0.5 | 19 | 31% | B+ |
| Plainfield | 14% | 0.5 | 7 | 50% | B |
| Voluntown | 67% | 2.1 | 122 | 32% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Sterling
Where can I hike in Sterling?
The longest trail networks: Moosup Valley State Park Trail, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Sterling is conserved land?
24% of its land, against a typical 15% for a Connecticut town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Sterling’s trails?
Moosup Valley State Park Trail and Ross Marsh Wildlife Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Sterling?
3.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.5 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Sterling?
9,573 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Sterling or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 206 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Sterling have?
Ahead of 69% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #123 of 155 in Connecticut. 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 Sterling 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 →