Town Forest
Nature preserve
116 acres7.2 mi of trail
Blue TrailYellow TrailOrange Trail (ANCHORS AWEIGH)Taft Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger) · Public domainAOutdoors
Outdoors in Mendon
Mendon has 29 miles of mapped trails, 1.7 for every square mile of land
882 acres are parks and preserves, 139 per 1,000 residents. 10% of Mendon’s land is conserved, about 1,083 acres. The biggest trail networks: Town Forest (7.2 mi), Quisset Wildlife Management Area (4.3 mi), Meadow Brook Woods Conservation Area (1.3 mi).
Ahead of 88% of U.S. towns · #236 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
Conserved land
10%
1,083 acres · of 17.8 sq mi of land
Trails
29 mi
1.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
882 ac
139 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
55%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
591 ft
Misoe Hill
Lakes & rivers
5
What kind of outdoors town is Mendon?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
A trail town1.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 90% of U.S. towns.Room to roam139 acres of park per 1,000 residents; the typical U.S. town has 13.Land that stays wild10% of the land is conserved; a typical Massachusetts town, 21%.History along the way5 places on the National Register.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Mendon have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Mendon is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns, #236 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 Mendon’s overall grade.
Conserved land10% of the land · typical MA town 21% · U.S. 4%A−Trails1.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (29 mi) · MA 1.9 · U.S. 0.4APark land139 acres of park per 1,000 residents (882 acres) · MA 91 · U.S. 13AParks close to home55% 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 88%
LessMore
Massachusetts towns of 2,500+ (283)Ahead of 17%
Massachusetts towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 21%; the U.S., 4%), so Mendon’s 10% is ahead of 6% of Massachusetts towns, while its trails per square mile lead 36% 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 Town Forest, with 7.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Quisset Wildlife Management Area
Nature preserve
354 acres4.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Meadow Brook Woods Conservation Area
Nature preserve
77 acres1.3 mi of trail
Inman Pond LoopCormier - Meadow Brook Link
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Cormier Woods
Nature preserve
42 acres0.7 mi of trail
Cormier - Meadow Brook LinkChapin TrailWhite Pine Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 8 parks & preserves
Town Forest116 acres · 7.2 mi of trail
DirectionsQuisset Wildlife Management Area354 acres · 4.3 mi of trail
Meadow Brook Woods Conservation Area77 acres · 1.3 mi of trail
DirectionsCormier Woods42 acres · 0.7 mi of trail
DirectionsMendon-Upton Lib & Nat Pres29 acres
Conservation Land12 acres
E. Kent Swift Wildlife Management Area1 acres
Founders Park1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
1,083 conserved acres
10% of Mendon’s land. Who manages Mendon’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits464 ac
Town or city279 ac
State fish & wildlife159 ac
State natural resources158 ac
Regional agency29 ac
Private owners7 ac
Not recorded554 ac
Conservation Easement · 893 acState Conservation Area · 200 acLocal Other or Unknown · 173 acLocal Park · 125 acLocal Resource Management Area · 116 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 435 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 51 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quisset Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 199 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 157 | Open |
| Town of Mendon Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 120 | Open |
| Town Forest Local Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 116 | Open |
| Cormier Woods Conservation Area Private Conservation | Not recorded | 30 | Open |
| Mendon Upton Lib & Nat Pres Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 29 | Unknown |
| Miscoe Hill Middle School Athletic Fields Research or Educational Area | Not recorded | 19 | Open |
| Ford Preserve Private Conservation | Not recorded | 19 | Open |
| Meadow Brook Conservation Area Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 11 | Open |
| Veteran's Park Local Park | Not recorded | 9 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
7 places to go in Mendon
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Mendon
Misoe Hill591 ft elevation
DirectionsChestnut Hill531 ft elevation · In Town Forest
DirectionsPond Hill512 ft elevation
DirectionsWest Hill509 ft elevation
DirectionsInman Hill505 ft elevation
DirectionsNeck Hill423 ft elevation
DirectionsQuisset Hill299 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
23 named trails and 5 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Blue Trail1.9 mi
Yellow Trail1.7 mi
Orange Trail (ANCHORS AWEIGH)1.1 mi
Cormier - Meadow Brook Link0.7 mi
Taft Trail0.7 mi
Asylum Trail0.6 mi
Inman Pond Loop0.6 mi
Pipeline Trail0.5 mi
White Trail (Bobcat)0.5 mi
White Trail0.4 mi
13 more trails
Tower Rd.
0.4 miWhite Trail (Sidewinder)
0.4 miBlue Trail (Wigwam)
0.4 miGas Line
0.4 miShirley's Trail
0.3 miThe Goose
0.3 miChapin Trail
0.2 miOrange Trail (ABSALOM)
0.2 miBlue Trail (The General)
0.2 miQuarry Trail
0.1 miWhite Pine Trail
0.1 miBig Wall Trail
0.1 miMill Trail
0.1 miLakes & 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
5Baseball
3Soccer
2Tennis
1Basketball
1Football
1Softball
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). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Richard Sayles HouseBuilding · listed 1983
About itMendon Center Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2003
About itNorth Avenue Rural Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2003
About itNathan C. Aldrich House and Resthaven ChapelBuilding · listed 2006
About itOlney Cook Artisan ShopBuilding · listed 2019
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Mendon: 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 | 15.2 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 36 | 39 | 46 | 59 | 69 | 78 | 83 | 81 | 74 | 62 | 51 | 41 |
| Rain (in) | 3.9 | 3.5 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 3.7 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 5.1 | 4.0 | 4.8 |
February is the driest month (3.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 5.1 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Mendon →
Next door
Mendon and its neighbors
Mendon has the second most mapped trails of the 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mendon | 10% | 1.7 | 139 | 55% | A |
| Bellingham | 11% | 0.8 | 33 | 77% | A |
| Hopedale | 23% | 2.0 | 86 | 83% | A+ |
| Upton | 21% | 4.4 | 370 | 81% | A+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Mendon
Where can I hike in Mendon?
The longest trail networks: Town Forest, 7.2 miles; Quisset Wildlife Management Area, 4.3 miles; Meadow Brook Woods Conservation Area, 1.3 miles; Cormier Woods, 0.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Mendon is conserved land?
10% 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 Mendon’s trails?
Town Forest and Quisset Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Mendon?
35,347 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Mendon or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,034 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Mendon have?
Ahead of 88% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #236 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 Mendon 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 →