Douglas State Forest
Nature preserve
5,893 acres58.6 mi of trail
Midstate TrailGrand Trunk TrailSouthern New England Trunkline TrailStreeter Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Old Douglas Center Historic District · Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Douglas
Douglas has 84 miles of mapped trails, 2.3 for every square mile of land
28% of Douglas’ land is conserved, about 6,436 acres. 759 acres are parks and preserves, 82 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Douglas State Forest (58.6 mi), Mine Brook Wildlife Management Area (3.4 mi).
Ahead of 91% of U.S. towns · #207 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
Conserved land
28%
6,436 acres · of 36.4 sq mi of land
Trails
84 mi
2.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
759 ac
82 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
45%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.6 mi
0.6 mi paths
Highest peak
758 ft
Mount Daniels
Lakes & rivers
14
1 beach
What kind of outdoors town is Douglas?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Douglas have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Douglas is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns, #207 of 283 in Massachusetts. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Douglas’ overall grade.
Conserved land28% of the land · typical MA town 21% · U.S. 4%ATrails2.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (84 mi) · MA 1.9 · U.S. 0.4APark land82 acres of park per 1,000 residents (759 acres) · MA 91 · U.S. 13AParks close to home45% of residents within a half mile of a park · MA 93% · U.S. 72%C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 91%
LessMore
Massachusetts towns of 2,500+ (283)Ahead of 27%
Massachusetts towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 21%; the U.S., 4%), so Douglas’ 28% is ahead of 67% of Massachusetts towns, while its trails per square mile lead 59% 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 Douglas State Forest, with 58.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Mine Brook Wildlife Management Area
Nature preserve
333 acres3.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Martin Road Park
Park
6 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
6,436 conserved acres
28% of Douglas’ land. Who manages Douglas’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife218 ac
Town or city191 ac
State parks112 ac
Not recorded6,140 ac
State Resource Management Area · 5,790 acState Conservation Area · 346 acLocal Other or Unknown · 162 acOther Easement · 114 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 93 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 25 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 7 of 51 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Douglas State Forest State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 5,790 | Open |
| Mine Brook Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 346 | Restricted |
| Blackstone Valley Beagle Club Private Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 93 | Restricted |
| Conservation Area Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 66 | Open |
| South East Main Street Conservation Area Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 60 | Open |
| Pine Needle Park Local Park | Not recorded | 57 | Open |
| Tinkerville Brook Conservation Area Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 28 | Open |
| Aquifer Protection Land Watershed Protection Area | Not recorded | 19 | Unknown |
| Martin Road Recreational Park Local Park | Not recorded | 19 | Open |
| Town of Douglas Watershed Protection Area | Not recorded | 13 | Unknown |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
11 places to go in Douglas
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Douglas
1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in Douglas
5 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Peaks in Douglas
Mount Daniels758 ft elevation
DirectionsWadkin Hill735 ft elevation
DirectionsBald Hill689 ft elevation
DirectionsWallum Pond Hill663 ft elevation · In Douglas State Forest
DirectionsPicnic areas in Douglas
1 picnic area without a name on the map.
Trails & water
19 named trails and 14 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 29.7 miHorses · 28.5 miUnpaved · 25.0 mi
Midstate Trail8.2 mi
Southern New England Trunkline Trail6.7 mi
Grand Trunk Trail2.0 mi
Streeter Trail1.4 mi
Pain in the Pullman1.3 mi
Schmidt Trail1.2 mi
Stud Finder1.2 mi
Eagle Bridge Trail1.1 mi
Saddle Trail0.9 mi
Hay Ride Trail0.8 mi
9 more trails
Wallum Lake Overlook
0.5 miTNT
0.5 miRoundabout
0.4 miSouthern New England Railway
0.4 miBad Luck Pond Trail
0.4 miCedar Swamp Trail
0.3 miDouglas Shelter Path
0.2 miNorth South Trail/Mid State Trail
0.2 miTri-State Marker Trail
0.1 miBiking & sports
0.6 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.6 mi
off-road bike paths
Southern New England Trunkline TrailBike route
6.7 miCourts & fields
5Baseball
1Football
1Basketball
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 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 Douglas: 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 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 35 | 37 | 45 | 58 | 68 | 77 | 81 | 80 | 73 | 61 | 50 | 40 |
| Rain (in) | 3.9 | 3.4 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 3.7 | 4.4 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 5.1 | 4.1 | 4.7 |
February is the driest month (3.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 5.1 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Douglas →
Next door
Douglas and its neighbors
Douglas has the most mapped trails of the 7 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Douglas
Where can I hike in Douglas?
The longest trail networks: Douglas State Forest, 58.6 miles; Mine Brook Wildlife Management Area, 3.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Douglas is conserved land?
28% 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 Douglas’ trails?
Douglas State Forest and Mine Brook Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Douglas?
0.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.6 of off-road paths. Named routes: Southern New England Trunkline Trail.
Is there public land near Douglas?
28,989 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Douglas or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 6,482 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Douglas have?
Ahead of 91% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #207 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 Douglas 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 →