Main Street Wildlife Refuge
Nature preserve
411 acres4.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Dunstable
Dunstable has 2,714 acres of parks, 796 for every 1,000 residents
42 miles of mapped trail cross Dunstable, 2.5 per square mile of land. 30% of Dunstable’s land is conserved, about 3,200 acres. Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park.
Among the top 1% of U.S. towns · #9 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
Conserved land
30%
3,200 acres · of 16.5 sq mi of land
Trails
42 mi
2.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
2,714 ac
796 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.4 mi
2.4 mi paths
Highest peak
371 ft
Blanchard Hill
Lakes & rivers
5
What kind of outdoors town is Dunstable?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Dunstable have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Dunstable is among the top 1% of U.S. towns, #9 of 283 in Massachusetts. All four inputs put Dunstable near the top nationally; park acres per resident rank highest.
A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Dunstable’s overall grade.
Conserved land30% of the land · typical MA town 21% · U.S. 4%ATrails2.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (42 mi) · MA 1.9 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land796 acres of park per 1,000 residents (2,714 acres) · MA 91 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · MA 93% · U.S. 72%A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Among the top 1%
LessMore
Massachusetts towns of 2,500+ (283)Ahead of 97%
Massachusetts towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 21%; the U.S., 4%), so Dunstable’s 30% is ahead of 74% of Massachusetts towns, while its trails per square mile lead 66% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would still be 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 Main Street Wildlife Refuge, with 4.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Unkety Brook Wildlife Management Area
Nature preserve
516 acres2.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Flat Rock Hill
Nature preserve
149 acres2.3 mi of trail
Mid TrailMeadow TrailQuarry Trail100 Acre Pasture+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Spaulding-Proctor Reservation
Nature preserve
147 acres2.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Flat Rock Hill Quarry
Nature preserve
83 acres1.9 mi of trail
Flat Rock TrailQuarry Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Kennedy Conservation Area
Nature preserve
63 acres1.8 mi of trail
Nashua Acton & Boston Railroad
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Pierce Town Forest
Nature preserve
128 acres1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Blanchard Hill
Nature preserve
52 acres0.9 mi of trail
100 Acre PastureBlanchard Hill Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 47 parks & preserves
Main Street Wildlife Refuge411 acres · 4.5 mi of trail
DirectionsUnkety Brook Wildlife Management Area516 acres · 2.9 mi of trail
Flat Rock Hill149 acres · 2.3 mi of trail
DirectionsSpaulding-Proctor Reservation147 acres · 2.1 mi of trail
DirectionsFlat Rock Hill Quarry83 acres · 1.9 mi of trail
Kennedy Conservation Area63 acres · 1.8 mi of trail
Pierce Town Forest128 acres · 1 mi of trail
Blanchard Hill52 acres · 0.9 mi of trail
Unkety Brook Wildlife Conservation Easement85 acres · 0.8 mi of trail
Hauk Swamp Wildlife Conservation Easement63 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
Unkety Woods Preserve56 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
Proctor-Grater Conservation Area43 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
Gage Town Forest35 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
Nashua River Access14 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
DirectionsArched Bridge Conservation Area11 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
DirectionsEmery Woods47 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
Spectacle Hill Conservation Area26 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Joint Grass Brook Conservation Area20 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
DirectionsUnkety Brook Conservation Area83 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Amos Kendall Conservation Area25 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Elbow Meadow Wildlife Management Area13 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Hardy Street Conservation Area11 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Farnsworth Wildlife Refuge79 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Hogg Conservation Area29 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Chaney Park8 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Dunstable Brook Wildlife Management Area171 acres
DirectionsLarter Property73 acres
Hauk Swamp Wildlife Management Area55 acres
English Wildlife Refuge34 acres
Nashua River Rail Trail16 acres
DirectionsKeyes Meadow Conservation Area13 acres
Biron Conservation Area12 acres
Unketty Brook Meadow12 acres
Bacon Conservation Area12 acres
DirectionsHoward's Brook Conservation Area10 acres
Brook Conservation Area8 acres
Goldthwaite Conservation Area4 acres
Basbanes Conservation Area4 acres
Gardner Conservation Area4 acres
Urqhart Conservation Area4 acres
Talis Open Space3 acres
Sawyer Conservation Area3 acres
Sargent Conservation Area2 acres
Lupien Open Space2 acres
Craven Conservation Area2 acres
Shaw Conservation Area2 acres
DirectionsLovewell Pond Conservation Area1 acres · Nashua Conservation Commission
Who protects it
3,200 conserved acres
30% of Dunstable’s land. Who manages Dunstable’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city1,065 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits726 ac
Other state land520 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)186 ac
State natural resources145 ac
Not recorded1,740 ac
Conservation Easement · 1,561 acState Conservation Area · 1,458 acAgricultural Easement · 513 acLocal Other or Unknown · 329 acPrivate Conservation · 295 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,122 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 6 of 129 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unkety Brook Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 429 | Open |
| Conservation Area Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 336 | Closed |
| Spaulding Proctor Reservation Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 157 | Open |
| Unkety Brook Conservation Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 139 | Open |
| Pierce Town Forest State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 128 | Open |
| Tully Wildlife Refuge State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 110 | Open |
| McLoon Farm Conservation Area Private Conservation | Not recorded | 97 | Open |
| Flat Rock Hill Quarry Conservation Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 83 | Open |
| Hauk Swamp Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 61 | Open |
| Kennedy Conservation Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 61 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
13 places to go in Dunstable
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Dunstable
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Dunstable
Blanchard Hill371 ft elevation · In Blanchard Hill
DirectionsHorse Hill358 ft elevation · In Unkety Brook Wildlife Management Area
DirectionsKendall Hill341 ft elevation
DirectionsHound Meadow Hill328 ft elevation
DirectionsForest Hill322 ft elevation
DirectionsDrake Hill315 ft elevation
DirectionsFlatrock Hill315 ft elevation · In Flat Rock Hill
DirectionsRoby Hill279 ft elevation
Directions3 more peaks
Spectacle Hill259 ft elevation · In Gage Town Forest
DirectionsChaney Hill233 ft elevation
DirectionsNutting Hill164 ft elevation · In Dunstable Brook Wildlife Management Area
DirectionsCampgrounds in Dunstable
Camp Massapoag
DirectionsTrails & water
10 named trails and 5 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 9.7 mi
Nashua Acton & Boston Railroad2.1 mi
Quarry Trail1.1 mi
Red Line Trail1.0 mi
100 Acre Pasture0.8 mi
Flat Rock Trail0.7 mi
Mid Trail0.5 mi
Blanchard Hill Trail0.4 mi
Meadow Trail0.4 mi
Red Trail to Salmon Brook0.3 mi
Dark Hill0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
2.4 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.4 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
6Baseball
4Tennis
2Soccer
2Basketball
1Beach volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 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 Dunstable: 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) | 35 | 38 | 46 | 59 | 70 | 79 | 84 | 82 | 74 | 62 | 50 | 40 |
| Rain (in) | 3.3 | 3.2 | 4.1 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.9 | 4.7 | 3.8 | 4.3 |
February is the driest month (3.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.7 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Dunstable →
Next door
Dunstable 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunstable | 30% | 2.5 | 796 | 99%+ | A+ |
| Pepperell | 20% | 1.5 | 201 | 93% | A+ |
| Tyngsborough | 15% | 1.6 | 64 | 91% | A+ |
| Groton | 34% | 4.7 | 569 | 99%+ | A+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Dunstable
Where can I hike in Dunstable?
The longest trail networks: Main Street Wildlife Refuge, 4.5 miles; Unkety Brook Wildlife Management Area, 2.9 miles; Flat Rock Hill, 2.3 miles; Spaulding-Proctor Reservation, 2.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Dunstable is conserved land?
30% 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 Dunstable’s trails?
Main Street Wildlife Refuge and Unkety Brook Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Dunstable?
2.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.4 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Dunstable?
39,894 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Dunstable or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 2,896 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Dunstable have?
Among the top 1% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #9 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 Dunstable 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 →