Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Mill Creek Friends Meetinghouse · Photo: Historic American Buildings Survey Earl Brooks, Photographer · Public domain9.4 miles of mapped trail cross North Star, 1.4 per square mile of land. 648 acres are parks and preserves, 83 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: White Clay Creek State Park (6.8 mi).
Ahead of 83% of U.S. towns · #9 of 37 in Delaware. What drives it
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, North Star is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns, #9 of 37 in Delaware. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
Delaware towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 13%; the U.S., 4%), so North Star’s 23% is ahead of 81% of Delaware towns, while its trails per square mile lead 94% of them.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
The longest trail network is White Clay Creek State Park, with 6.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
23% of North Star’s land. Who manages North Star’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 116 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 32 of 38 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| White Clay Creek State Park State Park | State parks | 671 | Open |
| Meadowdale Private Conservation | County | 31 | Unknown |
| North Star Elementary School Research or Educational Area | Not recorded | 30 | Unknown |
| North Star Chase Private Conservation | County | 21 | Unknown |
| Beech Hill Private Conservation | County | 20 | Unknown |
| Patterson Farm Private Conservation | County | 15 | Unknown |
| Cotswold Hills Private Conservation | County | 13 | Unknown |
| Penn Manor Private Conservation | County | 12 | Unknown |
| North Star Private Conservation | County | 12 | Unknown |
| Southwood Estates Private Conservation | County | 10 | Unknown |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Plus 1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
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.
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
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) | 9.6 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.4 | 15.0 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 40 | 43 | 52 | 64 | 73 | 82 | 86 | 85 | 78 | 66 | 55 | 45 |
| Rain (in) | 3.5 | 2.9 | 4.3 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.4 | 4.7 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 4.1 |
February is the driest month (2.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 4.7 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 86 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in North Star →
North Star has the second most mapped trails of the 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Star | 23% | 1.4 | 83 | 22% | A− |
| Hockessin | 20% | 0.5 | 23 | 73% | A− |
| Pike Creek | 35% | 0.4 | 13 | 99%+ | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
The longest trail networks: White Clay Creek State Park, 6.8 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
23% of its land, against a typical 13% for a Delaware town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
White Clay Creek State Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
22,528 acres of parks and open public land lie inside North Star or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 648 of them inside the town line.
Ahead of 83% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #9 of 37 in Delaware. 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.
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from North Star neighbors.
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 →