Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0

Outdoors in Chester

Chester has 5,926 acres of parks, 4,779 for every 1,000 residents

31% of Chester’s land is conserved, about 7,156 acres. The biggest trail networks: Hiram H. Fox Wildlife Management Area (2.8 mi), Westfield River Highlands (2 mi), Wright / Mica Mill Wildlife Conservation Easement (1.7 mi). 25 miles of mapped trail cross Chester, 0.7 per square mile of land.

Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Conserved land

31%

7,156 acres · of 36.6 sq mi of land

Trails

25 mi

0.7 per sq mi of land

Park land

5,926 ac

4,779 acres per 1,000 residents

Near a park

74%

of residents within ½ mile

Highest peak

1,765 ft

Round Top Hill

Lakes & rivers

1 boat launch

What kind of outdoors town is Chester?

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

Room to roam4,779 acres of park per 1,000 residents; the typical U.S. town has 13.Land that stays wild31% of the land is conserved; a typical Massachusetts town, 21%.History along the way3 places on the National Register.

Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Chester have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Chester is ahead of 94% 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.

OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Chester’s overall grade.

Conserved land31% of the land · typical MA town 21% · U.S. 4%A Trails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (25 mi) · MA 1.9 · U.S. 0.4B⁺Park land4,779 acres of park per 1,000 residents (5,926 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 94%

LessMore

Massachusetts towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 21%; the U.S., 4%), so Chester’s 31% is ahead of 74% of Massachusetts towns, while its trails per square mile lead 10% 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 Hiram H. Fox WMA, with 2.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Hiram H. Fox Wildlife Management Area

Nature preserve

1,499 acres2.8 mi of trail

Dog rules not recorded

No trailhead mapped yet

Westfield River Highlands

Nature preserve

255 acres2 mi of trail

Gobble mountain trailUkamit's PathTrail of Ledges

Dog rules not recorded

Directionsto the trailhead

Wright / Mica Mill Wildlife Conservation Easement

Nature preserve

1,651 acres1.7 mi of trail

Dog rules not recorded

Directionsto the parking lot

Watershed Land

Nature preserve

362 acres0.7 mi of trail

Trail of LedgesUkamit's Path

Dog rules not recorded

Directionsto the parking lot

All 12 parks & preserves

Hiram H. Fox Wildlife Management Area1,499 acres · 2.8 mi of trail

Westfield River Highlands255 acres · 2 mi of trail

Directions

Wright / Mica Mill Wildlife Conservation Easement1,651 acres · 1.7 mi of trail

Directions

Watershed Land362 acres · 0.7 mi of trail

Directions

Fox Den Wildlife Management Area556 acres · MassWildlife

John J. Kelly Wildlife Management Area325 acres

Directions

Skedden Property131 acres

Westfield River Access24 acres

Directions

Hampden Street Park8 acres

Directions

Riverside Park8 acres

Directions

Conservation Land1 acres

School Street Park1 acres

Who protects it

7,156 conserved acres

31% of Chester’s land. Who manages Chester’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

State fish & wildlife1,655 ac

State natural resources1,654 ac

Land trusts & nonprofits1,330 ac

Private owners130 ac

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service2 ac

Town or city1 ac

Not recorded4,623 ac

Conservation Easement · 4,484 acState Conservation Area · 2,614 acState Resource Management Area · 1,238 acPrivate Conservation · 533 acWatershed Protection Area · 349 ac

Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2,245 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels

Parcel (PAD-US)	Managed by	Acres	Public access
Hiram H. Fox Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area	Not recorded	1,535	Open
Chester-Blandford State Forest State Resource Management Area	Not recorded	1,238	Open
Fox Den Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area	Not recorded	734	Open
Watershed Watershed Protection Area	Not recorded	349	Open
John J. Kelly Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area	Not recorded	325	Open
Gobble Mountain Preserve Private Conservation	Land trusts & nonprofits	285	Restricted
Boy Scout Camp Private Conservation	Not recorded	248	Restricted
Walker Island Campground Private Other or Unknown	Not recorded	81	Restricted
Cemetery Local Historic or Cultural Area	Not recorded	38	Open
Abbott Brook Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area	Not recorded	21	Open

5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.

Things to do

23 places to go in Chester

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

Peaks in Chester

Round Top Hill1,765 ft elevation

Directions

Holcomb Hill1,722 ft elevation

Directions

Gobble Mountain1,654 ft elevation · In Westfield River Highlands

Directions

Fays Hill1,601 ft elevation

Directions

Abbott Hill1,427 ft elevation

Directions

Little Canada Hill1,335 ft elevation

Directions

Goss Hill1,283 ft elevation

Directions

Cherry Tree Hill1,211 ft elevation

Directions

3 more peaks

Little Moose Hill1,204 ft elevation

Directions

Smith Hill1,201 ft elevation · In Hiram H. Fox Wildlife Management Area

Directions

Bemis Hill1,122 ft elevation

Directions

Trails & water

5 named trails and 4 lakes & rivers

Named trails

Unpaved · 7.5 mi

Gobble mountain trail1.3 mi

Trail of Ledges0.8 mi

Ukamit's Path0.7 mi

Sanderson Brook Falls0.1 mi

Mica mine trail0.1 mi

Lakes & rivers tap for directions

Littleville Lakereservoir Middle Branch Westfield River Walker Brook West Branch Westfield River

Biking & sports

0.0 miles of bike routes

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

Courts & fields

1Basketball

1Baseball

1Soccer

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

History along the way

3 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 19 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.

History →

Chester Center Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1988

About it

Chester Factory Village Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1989

About it

North Chester Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1996

About it

When to get out

The best walking months in Chester: 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	15.3	15.0	13.9	12.4	11.0	9.7	9.1
High (°F)	32	35	44	57	69	76	81	80	72	60	48	37
Rain (in)	3.7	3.3	4.2	4.3	4.1	5.0	4.6	4.8	4.9	5.2	3.9	4.7

February is the driest month (3.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 5.2 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Chester →

Next door

Chester and its neighbors

Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Blandford45 mi Huntington36 mi Becket31 mi Chester25 mi Worthington13 mi Middlefield11 mi

Town	Conserved of land	Trail mi per sq mi	Park acres per 1,000	Near a park ½ mile	Outdoors
Chester	31%	0.7	4,779	74%	A
Huntington	28%	1.4	1,122	63%	A
Blandford	51%	0.9	3,087	74%	A⁺
Middlefield	— not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Worthington	37%	0.4	4,475	66%	A
Becket	24%	0.7	1,162	28%	A⁻

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

Questions about parks and trails in Chester

Where can I hike in Chester?

The longest trail networks: Hiram H. Fox Wildlife Management Area, 2.8 miles; Westfield River Highlands, 2 miles; Wright / Mica Mill Wildlife Conservation Easement, 1.7 miles; Watershed Land, 0.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Chester is conserved land?

31% 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 Chester’s trails?

Hiram H. Fox Wildlife Management Area and Westfield River Highlands don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Is there public land near Chester?

82,002 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Chester or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 5,955 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Chester have?

Ahead of 94% 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 Chester 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 →

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Chester has 5,926 acres of parks, 4,779 for every 1,000 residents

What kind of outdoors town is Chester?

How much outdoors does Chester have?

Conserved land, trails & bike routes

Pick a walk

Hiram H. Fox Wildlife Management Area

Westfield River Highlands

Wright / Mica Mill Wildlife Conservation Easement

Watershed Land

7,156 conserved acres

23 places to go in Chester

5 named trails and 4 lakes & rivers

0.0 miles of bike routes

3 places on the National Register

The best walking months in Chester: May to September

Chester and its neighbors

Questions about parks and trails in Chester

Trail talk

Where this page comes from