Great Woods Conservation Area
Nature preserve
740 acres3.4 mi of trail
Green TrailRed TrailWhite TrailOrange Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Mansfield
16% of Mansfield’s land is conserved, and 97% of residents live within a half mile of a park
2,204 acres are parks and preserves, 92 per 1,000 residents. 22 miles of mapped trail cross Mansfield, 1.1 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Great Woods Conservation Area (3.4 mi), Maple Park Conservation Area (2.9 mi), Taylor's Hill Conservation Area (1.5 mi).
Ahead of 96% of U.S. towns · #141 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
Conserved land
16%
2,078 acres · of 20.1 sq mi of land
Trails
22 mi
1.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
2,204 ac
92 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
97%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.6 mi
0.5 mi lanes · 2.5 mi paths
Highest peak
167 ft
Moose Hill
Lakes & rivers
6
1 beach
What kind of outdoors town is Mansfield?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Mansfield have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Mansfield is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns, #141 of 283 in Massachusetts. 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 Mansfield’s overall grade.
Conserved land16% of the land · typical MA town 21% · U.S. 4%ATrails1.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (22 mi) · MA 1.9 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land92 acres of park per 1,000 residents (2,204 acres) · MA 91 · U.S. 13AParks close to home97% 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 96%
LessMore
Massachusetts towns of 2,500+ (283)Ahead of 50%
Massachusetts towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 21%; the U.S., 4%), so Mansfield’s 16% is ahead of 27% of Massachusetts towns, while its trails per square mile lead 23% 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 Great Woods Conservation Area, with 3.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Maple Park Conservation Area
Nature preserve
277 acres2.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Taylor's Hill Conservation Area
Managed by Taylor's Hill Conservation
79 acres1.5 mi of trail
Blue TrailYellow TrailRed TrailPurple Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Sweet & Kalnins Conservation Area
Nature preserve
86 acres0.9 mi of trail
Red TrailBlue Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Mansfield Memorial Park
Park
35 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Marie Strese Conservation Area
Nature preserve
54 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Taylor Hill Woods
Park
38 acres0.5 mi of trail
Yellow TrailBlue TrailGray Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Cabot Forbes Parcels
Nature preserve
161 acres0.4 mi of trail
Steve Holford Memorial Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 22 parks & preserves
Great Woods Conservation Area740 acres · 3.4 mi of trail
DirectionsMaple Park Conservation Area277 acres · 2.9 mi of trail
DirectionsTaylor's Hill Conservation Area79 acres · 1.5 mi of trail · Taylor's Hill Conservation
Sweet & Kalnins Conservation Area86 acres · 0.9 mi of trail
Mansfield Memorial Park35 acres · 0.7 mi of trail
DirectionsMarie Strese Conservation Area54 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
Taylor Hill Woods38 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
Cabot Forbes Parcels161 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
DirectionsTaylor Hill Conservation Woods & Trails12 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Wading River/Forest Park Area7 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Udall Parcel4 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsRobinbson Park3 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · Town of Mansfield
DirectionsLowney Common1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsCanoe River Greenbelt86 acres
DirectionsLeonard and Marydee Flynn Cons Area47 acres
Flint Parcel24 acres
Fulton Pond13 acres
DirectionsBaron Estates Conservation Restriction6 acres
Kingman Pond4 acres
Source Is Shapefile From Town2 acres
Zecher Lot1 acres
Mansfield Common1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
2,078 conserved acres
16% of Mansfield’s land. Who manages Mansfield’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits480 ac
Town or city468 ac
Not recorded1,601 ac
Conservation Easement · 639 acLocal Other or Unknown · 606 acState Conservation Area · 399 acWatershed Protection Area · 272 acLocal Conservation Area · 177 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 331 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 11 of 98 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Woods Conservation Area Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 402 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 177 | Open |
| Canoe River Greenbelt State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 146 | Open |
| Town of Mansfield Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 138 | Open |
| Witch Pond Area Watershed Protection Area | Not recorded | 128 | Closed |
| Tri-County Beagle Club Private Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 107 | Restricted |
| Canoe River Wilderness Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 80 | Open |
| Sweet-Kaling Conservation Area Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 80 | Open |
| Attleboro Water Supply Watershed Protection Area | Not recorded | 64 | Open |
| Plymouth Road Recreation Area Local Park | Town or city | 57 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
5 places to go in Mansfield
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Mansfield
1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in Mansfield
Plymouth Street Playground
DirectionsPlus 1 playground without a name on the map.
Dog parks in Mansfield
1 dog park without a name on the map.
Peaks in Mansfield
Moose Hill167 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
11 named trails and 6 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 2.5 miHorses · 2.4 miUnpaved · 8.3 mi
Red Trail2.4 mi
Blue Trail1.4 mi
Steve Holford Memorial Trail1.2 mi
Green Trail1.1 mi
Orange Trail0.9 mi
Yellow Trail0.9 mi
White Trail0.7 mi
Purple Trail0.4 mi
Gray Trail0.3 mi
Dead Man's Path0.2 mi
1 more trails
Old Cemetery Path
0.1 miLakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
3.6 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.5 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
2.5 mi
off-road bike paths
0.6 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
13Baseball
10Soccer
9Tennis
2Football
2Multi-sport
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →4 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 5 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Mansfield: April 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) | 37 | 40 | 47 | 59 | 70 | 78 | 84 | 82 | 75 | 63 | 52 | 42 |
| Rain (in) | 4.0 | 3.6 | 4.9 | 4.5 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 4.9 | 4.2 | 4.9 |
July is the driest month (3.5 in) and the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.9 inches fall in March, the wettest month. The climate in Mansfield →
Next door
Mansfield and its neighbors
Mansfield has the second most mapped trails of the 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mansfield | 16% | 1.1 | 92 | 97% | A+ |
| Norton | 22% | 1.4 | 149 | 99%+ | A+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Mansfield
Where can I hike in Mansfield?
The longest trail networks: Great Woods Conservation Area, 3.4 miles; Maple Park Conservation Area, 2.9 miles; Taylor's Hill Conservation Area, 1.5 miles; Sweet & Kalnins Conservation Area, 0.9 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Mansfield is conserved land?
16% 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 Mansfield’s trails?
Great Woods Conservation Area and Maple Park Conservation Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Mansfield?
3.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.5 of painted or protected lanes, 2.5 of off-road paths and 0.6 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Mansfield?
48,926 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Mansfield or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 2,292 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Mansfield have?
Ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #141 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 Mansfield 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 →