Hop Brook Lake Recreation Area
Managed by United States Army Corps of Engineers
265 acres5.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Hayden Soloviev · CC BY 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Waterbury
Waterbury has 25 miles of mapped trails, 0.9 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Hop Brook Lake Recreation Area (5.5 mi), Mattatuck State Forest (5.2 mi), Bucks Hill Park (1.8 mi). 83% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 5% of Waterbury’s land is conserved, about 970 acres.
Ahead of 64% of U.S. towns · #139 of 155 in Connecticut. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
970 acres · of 28.6 sq mi of land
Trails
25 mi
0.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
556 ac
4.8 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
83%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.3 mi
1.0 mi lanes · 2.1 mi paths
Highest peak
879 ft
Bucks Hill
Lakes & rivers
25
2 beaches
What kind of outdoors town is Waterbury?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Waterbury have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Waterbury is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns, #139 of 155 in Connecticut. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Waterbury’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical CT town 15% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (25 mi) · CT 1.4 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land4.8 acres of park per 1,000 residents (556 acres) · CT 22 · U.S. 13CParks close to home83% of residents within a half mile of a park · CT 57% · U.S. 72%B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 64%
LessMore
Connecticut towns of 2,500+ (155)Ahead of 10%
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Waterbury ranks #303 on Outdoors.
Connecticut towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 15%; the U.S., 4%), so Waterbury’s 5% is ahead of 5% of Connecticut towns, while its trails per square mile lead 24% of them.
Park acres per resident are where Waterbury trails most U.S. towns: 4.8 per 1,000 against 12.6 typical, since 115,771 people share 556 acres.
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 Hop Brook Lake Recreation Area, with 5.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Mattatuck State Forest
Managed by Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
408 acres5.2 mi of trail
rock scramble hiking path
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Lewis Fulton Memorial Park
Managed by City of Waterbury
65 acres1.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Chase Park
Park
11 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 30 parks & preserves
Hop Brook Lake Recreation Area265 acres · 5.5 mi of trail · United States Army Corps of Engineers
DirectionsMattatuck State Forest408 acres · 5.2 mi of trail · Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
DirectionsBucks Hill Park77 acres · 1.8 mi of trail
DirectionsLewis Fulton Memorial Park65 acres · 1.5 mi of trail · City of Waterbury
Waterville Park22 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
DirectionsChase Park11 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
Library Park7 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
DirectionsLakewood Park147 acres · 0.2 mi of trail · City of Waterbury
DirectionsPlatt Park6 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsHayden Park2 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsHamilton Park84 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsWashington Park23 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
American Italian Civic Club Park41 acres · American-Italian Civic Club
Coe Park14 acres
Scott Road Park13 acres
DirectionsSloping Acres Park9 acres · City of Waterbury
Huntington Avenue Playground8 acres
Berkeley Heights Playground8 acres
City Mills Playground6 acres
Fort Hill Park6 acres
Rowland Park6 acres · City of Waterbury
DirectionsCurtin Park6 acres
Town Plot Park5 acres
George Tirado Sr. Park4 acres
DirectionsBunker Hill Playground3 acres
Hopeville Playground3 acres
Martin Luther King, Jr. Park2 acres
DirectionsFairlawn Playground1 acres
Center Square1 acres
DirectionsWest Dover Street Playground1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
970 conserved acres
5% of Waterbury’s land. Who manages Waterbury’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city324 ac
Other state land4 ac
Not recorded640 ac
State Resource Management Area · 402 acLocal Park · 395 acPrivate Conservation · 78 acWatershed Protection Area · 55 acLocal Other or Unknown · 25 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 37 of 57 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mattatuck State Forest State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 402 | Unknown |
| Hamilton Park Local Park | Town or city | 62 | Open |
| Unknown Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 60 | Unknown |
| Lewis Fulton Memorial Park Local Park | Town or city | 56 | Open |
| East Mountain Reservoir Watershed Protection Area | Town or city | 55 | Closed |
| Municipal Stadium Local Park | Town or city | 46 | Open |
| Lakewood Park Local Park | Not recorded | 39 | Unknown |
| Waterville Park Local Park | Not recorded | 36 | Unknown |
| City Mills Park Local Park | Town or city | 31 | Open |
| Prichard's Pond Private Conservation | Not recorded | 25 | Unknown |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
31 places to go in Waterbury
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Waterbury
2 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Playgrounds in Waterbury
20 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Scenic views in Waterbury
5 scenic views without a name on the map.
Peaks in Waterbury
Bucks Hill879 ft elevation
DirectionsNichols Hill705 ft elevation
DirectionsWestside Hill512 ft elevation
DirectionsPine Hill495 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
3 named trails and 25 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Finch Brook Trail0.2 mi
rock scramble hiking path0.2 mi
Columbia Boulevard0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Belleview LakereservoirBrass PondCable PondpondCemetery PondreservoirChain PondpondDeBishop PondpondEast Mountain ReservoirreservoirFrost Road PondpondGreat Brook ReservoirreservoirHills Pond Number 1pondHop Brook LakereservoirLake WequapausetreservoirLower Fulton Park PondpondMurphy LakereservoirPark PondpondPearl LakereservoirPritchards PondreservoirRifle Range PondRisdon PondpondTracys PondreservoirUpper Fulton Park PondpondWelton BrookpondMad RiverNaugatuck RiverSteele Brook
Biking & sports
3.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.0 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
2.1 mi
off-road bike paths
0.3 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
30Basketball
29Baseball
27Tennis
3Football
3Multi-sport
3Soccer
2Beach volleyball
2Softball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →25 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 14 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Waterbury Brass MillSite · listed 1975
About itWaterbury Union StationBuilding · listed 1978
About itWaterbury Municipal Center ComplexDistrict · listed 1978
About itEnoch Hibbard House and Grannis, George, HouseBuilding · listed 1979
About itBenedict-Miller HouseBuilding · listed 1981
About itJohn Kendrick HouseBuilding · listed 1982
About itGeorge S. Abbott BuildingBuilding · listed 1982
About itWebster SchoolBuilding · listed 1982
About itWilby High SchoolBuilding · listed 1982
About itBishop SchoolBuilding · listed 1982
About itWaterbury Clock CompanyBuilding · listed 1982
About itElton HotelBuilding · listed 1983
About it13 more on the History page.
When to get out
The best walking months in Waterbury: April 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) | 35 | 38 | 47 | 59 | 70 | 78 | 83 | 81 | 74 | 62 | 51 | 40 |
| Rain (in) | 3.7 | 3.2 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.6 | 5.0 | 4.1 | 4.5 |
February is the driest month (3.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 5.0 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Waterbury →
Next door
Waterbury and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Cheshire49 miWatertown34 miWaterbury25 miNaugatuck24 miMiddlebury23 miWolcott20 miProspect12 miOakville0.3 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterbury | 5% | 0.9 | 5 | 83% | B |
| Watertown | 18% | 1.2 | 44 | 50% | A |
| Middlebury | 19% | 1.3 | 84 | 73% | A |
| Wolcott | 2% | 1.0 | 5 | 30% | C+ |
| Cheshire | 12% | 1.5 | 15 | 67% | A− |
| Prospect | 3% | 0.9 | 17 | 38% | B |
| Oakville | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Naugatuck | 11% | 1.5 | 13 | 74% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Waterbury
Where can I hike in Waterbury?
The longest trail networks: Hop Brook Lake Recreation Area, 5.5 miles; Mattatuck State Forest, 5.2 miles; Bucks Hill Park, 1.8 miles; Lewis Fulton Memorial Park, 1.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Waterbury is conserved land?
5% 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 Waterbury’s trails?
Hop Brook Lake Recreation Area and Mattatuck State Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Waterbury?
3.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.0 of painted or protected lanes, 2.1 of off-road paths and 0.3 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Waterbury?
11,085 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Waterbury or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 556 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Waterbury have?
Ahead of 64% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #139 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 Waterbury 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 →