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Abington, MassachusettsPhoto: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0
AOutdoors
Outdoors in Abington

Abington has 26 miles of mapped trails, 2.6 for every square mile of land

896 acres are parks and preserves, 53 per 1,000 residents. 92% of residents live within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Ames Nowell State Park (20 mi), Island Grove Park (0.5 mi).

Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns · #181 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it

Conserved land
7%
475 acres · of 10.0 sq mi of land
Trails
26 mi
2.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
896 ac
53 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
92%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.8 mi
1.1 mi lanes · 0.7 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
6

What kind of outdoors town is Abington?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

A trail town2.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 96% of U.S. towns.Parks close to home92% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Abington have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Abington is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #181 of 283 in Massachusetts. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; trail miles rank highest, conserved land lowest.

A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Abington’s overall grade.
Conserved land7% of the land · typical MA town 21% · U.S. 4%B+Trails2.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (26 mi) · MA 1.9 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land53 acres of park per 1,000 residents (896 acres) · MA 91 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home92% of residents within a half mile of a park · MA 93% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 94%
LessMore
Massachusetts towns of 2,500+ (283)Ahead of 36%

Massachusetts towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 21%; the U.S., 4%), so Abington’s 7% is ahead of 4% of Massachusetts towns, while its trails per square mile lead 68% of them.

How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A 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.

1234
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 Ames Nowell State Park, with 20 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Ames Nowell State Park

Park
596 acres20 mi of trail
Johnny D'sWitch TrailWitch's ConnectBlue Door+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗

Island Grove Park

Park
20 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Blueberry Hill Land

Nature preserve
37 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

High Street Conservation Land

Nature preserve
26 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 26 parks & preserves
Ames Nowell State Park596 acres · 20 mi of trail
Directions
Island Grove Park20 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
Blueberry Hill Land37 acres
High Street Conservation Land26 acres
Town Composting Site25 acres
Memorial Field12 acres
Directions
Wright Meadow9 acres
Lincoln Street Property7 acres
Thicket St Conservation Land6 acres
Davis Street Property5 acres
Hamilton St. Conservation Land4 acres
Directions
Shumatuscacant River Conservation Area4 acres
Laidler Field4 acres
Directions
Brockton Avenue Property3 acres
Bill Balentine Park3 acres
Arnold Park3 acres
Directions
Rockland Street Property3 acres
Laurie Avenue Property2 acres
Green Street Property2 acres
Walnut Street Conservation Lan2 acres
Murphy Field2 acres
Little League Field2 acres
South Bedford St. Property1 acres
Veterans Memorial1 acres
Directions
Bedford Street Property1 acres
Cushing Pond Land1 acres
Who protects it

475 conserved acres

7% of Abington’s land. Who manages Abington’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Town or city134 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government1 ac
Not recorded359 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 173 acWatershed Protection Area · 85 acResearch or Educational Area · 65 acPrivate Historic or Cultural · 52 acState Park · 52 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 42 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Waterworks Property
Watershed Protection Area
Town or city67Closed
Ames Nowell State Park
State Park
Not recorded52Open
Mount Vernon Cemetery
Private Historic or Cultural
Not recorded52Restricted
Strawberry Valley Golf Course
Local Other or Unknown
Not recorded49Open
Blueberry Hill Conservation Area
Local Other or Unknown
Not recorded37Open
Abington High School Athletic Fields
Research or Educational Area
Not recorded34Open
Diane Circle Conservation Area
Local Other or Unknown
Town or city31Open
High Street Conservation Area
Local Resource Management Area
Town or city26Open
Island Grove Park
Local Park
Town or city19Open
Abington Water Supply Land
Watershed Protection Area
Not recorded18Closed

5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.

Things to do

10 places to go in Abington

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Playgrounds in Abington

7 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.

Trails & water

6 named trails and 6 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Open to bikes · 18.8 miUnpaved · 5.5 mi
Thompson Pond Trail0.9 mi
Johnny D's0.5 mi
Witch Trail0.5 mi
Blue Door0.3 mi
Witch's Connect0.3 mi
Toby's Ridge0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Cleveland PondreservoirCushing PondreservoirHunts PondreservoirIsland Grove PondreservoirShumatucacant River PondpondThompson Pondpond
Biking & sports

1.8 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

1.1 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
0.7 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
12Tennis
6Baseball
6Pickleball
4Basketball
2Football
1Soccer
1Hockey rinks

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

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.

History →
North Abington DepotBuilding · listed 1976
About it
Island Grove Park National Register DistrictDistrict · listed 2002
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in Abington: 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.410.511.813.314.615.215.013.912.411.09.79.1
High (°F)384047586978848274635243
Rain (in)4.23.85.24.63.74.13.33.64.04.94.45.0

July is the driest month (3.3 in) and the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 5.2 inches fall in March, the wettest month. The climate in Abington →

Next door

Abington and its neighbors

Abington has the most mapped trails of the 4 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Abington26 miBrockton17 miRockland15 miWhitman2.1 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Abington7%2.65392%A
Brockton9%0.81093%A−
Rockland11%1.52291%A
Whitman11%0.34098%A

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Abington

Where can I hike in Abington?

The longest trail networks: Ames Nowell State Park, 20 miles; Island Grove Park, 0.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Abington is conserved land?

7% of its land, against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.

Are dogs allowed on Abington’s trails?

Ames Nowell State Park and Island Grove Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Abington?

1.8 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.1 of painted or protected lanes and 0.7 of off-road paths.

Is there public land near Abington?

49,876 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Abington or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 896 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Abington have?

Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #181 of 283 in Massachusetts. 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 Abington neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →