Dead Branch State Forest
Managed by DCR - Division of State Parks and Recreation
577 acres1.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Chesterfield
Chesterfield has 6,320 acres of parks, 5,990 for every 1,000 residents
39% of Chesterfield’s land is conserved, about 7,668 acres. 94% of residents live within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Dead Branch State Forest (1.8 mi), Brewer Brook Wildlife Management Area (1.2 mi), Chesterfield Gorge Reservation (1 mi).
Ahead of 97% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
39%
7,668 acres · of 30.8 sq mi of land
Trails
16 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
6,320 ac
5,990 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
94%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,512 ft
Ram Hill
Lakes & rivers
4
What kind of outdoors town is Chesterfield?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Chesterfield have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Chesterfield is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; park acres per resident rank highest, trail miles lowest.
A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Chesterfield’s overall grade.
Conserved land39% of the land · typical MA town 21% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (16 mi) · MA 1.9 · U.S. 0.4BPark land5,990 acres of park per 1,000 residents (6,320 acres) · MA 91 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home94% 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 97%
LessMore
Massachusetts towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 21%; the U.S., 4%), so Chesterfield’s 39% is ahead of 88% of Massachusetts towns, while its trails per square mile lead 7% 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 Dead Branch State Forest, with 1.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Brewer Brook Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Department of Fish and Game
172 acres1.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Chesterfield Gorge Reservation
Nature preserve
200 acres1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Ram Hill Wildlife Management Area
Nature preserve
479 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Fisk Meadows Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Department of Fish And Game
620 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 12 parks & preserves
Dead Branch State Forest577 acres · 1.8 mi of trail · DCR - Division of State Parks and Recreation
Brewer Brook Wildlife Management Area172 acres · 1.2 mi of trail · Department of Fish and Game
Chesterfield Gorge Reservation200 acres · 1 mi of trail
DirectionsRam Hill Wildlife Management Area479 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
Fisk Meadows Wildlife Management Area620 acres · 0.5 mi of trail · Department of Fish And Game
Hiram H. Fox Wildlife Management Area535 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Gilbert A. Bliss State Forest626 acres
Chesterfield Wildlife Conservation Easement303 acres
Westfield River Access235 acres
Krug Sugarbush92 acres · DCR - Division of State Parks and Recreation
Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge80 acres · United States Fish and Wildlife Service
Dead Branch Unit80 acres · United States Fish and Wildlife Service
Who protects it
7,668 conserved acres
39% of Chesterfield’s land. Who manages Chesterfield’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Other state land860 ac
State parks840 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits802 ac
State fish & wildlife780 ac
State conservation561 ac
Army Corps of Engineers349 ac
State natural resources242 ac
State Resource Management Area · 3,208 acState Conservation Area · 2,824 acConservation Easement · 2,330 acAgricultural Easement · 911 acRecreation or Education Easement · 552 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,565 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 5 of 132 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gilbert A. Bliss State Forest State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 2,048 | Open |
| Oak Hill Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 845 | Open |
| Dead Branch State Forest State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 640 | Open |
| Fisk Meadows Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 619 | Open |
| Hiram H. Fox Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 540 | Open |
| Ram Hill Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 464 | Open |
| Tower Brook Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 307 | Open |
| Westfield River (Curran-Obrien 2) State Resource Management Area | State conservation | 304 | Open |
| Chesterfield Gorge Reservation Private Conservation | Not recorded | 200 | Unknown |
| Silvio O. Conte National Fish And Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 196 | Restricted |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
13 places to go in Chesterfield
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Chesterfield
4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Peaks in Chesterfield
Ram Hill1,512 ft elevation
DirectionsShaw Ledges1,509 ft elevation · In Dead Branch State Forest
DirectionsOak Hill1,430 ft elevation
DirectionsBofat Hill1,424 ft elevation
DirectionsBagg Ledges1,375 ft elevation
DirectionsWalnut Hill1,375 ft elevation · In Hiram H. Fox Wildlife Management Area
DirectionsCastle Hill1,309 ft elevation
DirectionsSmith Pyramid1,194 ft elevation
Directions1 more peak
Luce Hill1,168 ft elevation · In Westfield River Access
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 4 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 4.6 miUnpaved · 5.6 mi
(overgrown)0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
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
2Baseball
2Tennis
1Skate park
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →5 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Chesterfield: 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 | 43 | 56 | 68 | 76 | 81 | 79 | 72 | 59 | 48 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 3.7 | 3.3 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 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 Chesterfield →
Next door
Chesterfield and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chesterfield | 39% | 0.5 | 5,990 | 94% | A+ |
| Huntington | 28% | 1.4 | 1,122 | 63% | A |
| Goshen | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Worthington | 37% | 0.4 | 4,475 | 66% | A |
| Williamsburg | 29% | 1.5 | 576 | 60% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Chesterfield
Where can I hike in Chesterfield?
The longest trail networks: Dead Branch State Forest, 1.8 miles; Brewer Brook Wildlife Management Area, 1.2 miles; Chesterfield Gorge Reservation, 1 miles; Ram Hill Wildlife Management Area, 0.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Chesterfield is conserved land?
39% 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 Chesterfield’s trails?
Dead Branch State Forest and Brewer Brook Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Chesterfield?
79,289 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Chesterfield or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 6,460 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Chesterfield have?
Ahead of 97% 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 Chesterfield 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 →