Tolland State Forest
Nature preserve
721 acres2.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Rhcowles · CC BY-SA 3.0A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Blandford
More than half of Blandford’s land is conserved: 51%
51% of Blandford’s land is conserved, about 16,794 acres. 3,569 acres are parks and preserves, 3,087 per 1,000 residents. 45 miles of mapped trail cross Blandford, 0.9 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 96% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
51%
16,794 acres · of 51.6 sq mi of land
Trails
45 mi
0.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
3,569 ac
3,087 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
74%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,706 ft
Jackson Hill
Lakes & rivers
8
What kind of outdoors town is Blandford?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Blandford have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Blandford is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; park acres per resident rank highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Blandford’s overall grade.
Conserved land51% of the land · typical MA town 21% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (45 mi) · MA 1.9 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land3,087 acres of park per 1,000 residents (3,569 acres) · MA 91 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home74% of residents within a half mile of a park · MA 93% · U.S. 72%B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 96%
LessMore
Massachusetts towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 21%; the U.S., 4%), so Blandford’s 51% is ahead of 98% of Massachusetts towns, while its trails per square mile lead 16% 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.
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 Tolland State Forest, with 2.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Blandford / Huntington Wce (Stanton-Cook, Tomkins And Beesaw Lots)
Nature preserve
329 acres0.4 mi of trail
Huckleberry Trolley Line
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Herrick Knittel Conservation Area
Nature preserve
249 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Blandford Wce (Bausman Lot)
Nature preserve
236 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 8 parks & preserves
Tolland State Forest721 acres · 2.2 mi of trail
Blandford / Huntington Wce (Stanton-Cook, Tomkins And Beesaw Lots)329 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
Herrick Knittel Conservation Area249 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Blandford Wce (Bausman Lot)236 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Blandford / Russell Wce (Loveland Lot)256 acres
Arms Acres104 acres
Bradley Brook Conservation Area51 acres
Watson Park18 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
16,794 conserved acres
51% of Blandford’s land. Who manages Blandford’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city1,642 ac
State fish & wildlife823 ac
State natural resources822 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits503 ac
State parks477 ac
State conservation118 ac
Not recorded14,568 ac
Watershed Protection Area · 11,631 acConservation Easement · 4,028 acState Resource Management Area · 2,369 acLocal Other or Unknown · 424 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 220 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2,221 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 3 of 82 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Springfield Water Supply Land Watershed Protection Area | Not recorded | 8,504 | Closed |
| Russell Water Supply Land Watershed Protection Area | Not recorded | 2,440 | Unknown |
| Chester-Blandford State Forest State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 1,629 | Open |
| Tolland State Forest State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 740 | Open |
| Water Department Land Watershed Protection Area | Town or city | 357 | Closed |
| Blandford Water Supply Land Watershed Protection Area | Not recorded | 329 | Unknown |
| Long Pond Conservation Area Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 298 | Open |
| Stage Brook Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 147 | Open |
| Blandford Ski Area Private Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 142 | Restricted |
| Arms Acres Memorial Forest Private Conservation | Not recorded | 103 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
12 places to go in Blandford
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Blandford
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Blandford
Jackson Hill1,706 ft elevation
DirectionsWalnut Hill1,657 ft elevation
DirectionsDug Hill1,594 ft elevation
DirectionsGreen Hill1,496 ft elevation
DirectionsBeech Hill1,467 ft elevation
DirectionsSunset Hill1,463 ft elevation
DirectionsPebble Hill1,391 ft elevation
DirectionsBirch Hill1,335 ft elevation
Directions3 more peaks
Tarrot Hill1,257 ft elevation
DirectionsPudding Hill1,230 ft elevation
DirectionsTillotson Hill1,224 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 8 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 19.4 mi
Huckleberry Trolley Line8.1 mi
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
First Congregational Church of BlandfordBuilding · listed 1985
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Blandford: 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) | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.2 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 32 | 35 | 43 | 56 | 68 | 75 | 80 | 78 | 71 | 59 | 47 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 3.8 | 3.4 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 4.9 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 5.0 | 5.3 | 4.1 | 4.8 |
February is the driest month (3.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 5.3 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Blandford →
Next door
Blandford and its neighbors
Blandford has the second most mapped trails of the 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blandford | 51% | 0.9 | 3,087 | 74% | A+ |
| Russell | 45% | 1.1 | 942 | 52% | A |
| Chester | 31% | 0.7 | 4,779 | 74% | A |
| Huntington | 28% | 1.4 | 1,122 | 63% | A |
| Tolland | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Granville | 52% | 1.1 | 574 | 25% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Blandford
Where can I hike in Blandford?
The longest trail networks: Tolland State Forest, 2.2 miles; Blandford / Huntington Wce (Stanton-Cook, Tomkins And Beesaw Lots), 0.4 miles; Herrick Knittel Conservation Area, 0.3 miles; Blandford Wce (Bausman Lot), 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Blandford is conserved land?
51% 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 Blandford’s trails?
Tolland State Forest and Blandford / Huntington Wce (Stanton-Cook, Tomkins And Beesaw Lots) don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Blandford?
79,701 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Blandford or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 4,425 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Blandford have?
Ahead of 96% 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 Blandford 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 →