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Middleboro MA Town HallPhoto: T.S. Custadio aka ToddC4176 at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
AOutdoors
Outdoors in Middleborough

Middleborough has 6,535 acres of parks, 267 for every 1,000 residents

21% of Middleborough’s land is conserved, about 9,390 acres. 98 miles of mapped trail cross Middleborough, 1.4 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Rocky Gutter Wildlife Management Area (22.8 mi).

Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns · #187 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it

Conserved land
21%
9,390 acres · of 69.0 sq mi of land
Trails
98 mi
1.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
6,535 ac
267 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
64%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.2 mi
Highest peak
177 ft
Barden Hills
Lakes & rivers
14

What kind of outdoors town is Middleborough?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Room to roam267 acres of park per 1,000 residents; the typical U.S. town has 13.Land that stays wild21% of the land is conserved; a typical Massachusetts town, 21%.A trail town1.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 87% of U.S. towns.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Middleborough have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Middleborough is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #187 of 283 in Massachusetts. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; park acres per resident rank highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.

A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Middleborough’s overall grade.
Conserved land21% of the land · typical MA town 21% · U.S. 4%ATrails1.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (98 mi) · MA 1.9 · U.S. 0.4APark land267 acres of park per 1,000 residents (6,535 acres) · MA 91 · U.S. 13AParks close to home64% 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 94%
LessMore
Massachusetts towns of 2,500+ (283)Ahead of 34%

Massachusetts towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 21%; the U.S., 4%), so Middleborough’s 21% is ahead of 51% of Massachusetts towns, while its trails per square mile lead 28% 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.

1234
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 Rocky Gutter WMA, with 22.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Rocky Gutter Wildlife Management Area

Nature preserve
3,523 acres22.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Peirce Playground

Park
24 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Weston Memorial Park

Park
304 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Black Brook Wildlife Management Area

Nature preserve
292 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 21 parks & preserves
Rocky Gutter Wildlife Management Area3,523 acres · 22.8 mi of trail
Directions
Peirce Playground24 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Directions
Weston Memorial Park304 acres
Black Brook Wildlife Management Area292 acres
Taunton River Wildlife Management Area220 acres
Fall Brook-Washburn Conservation Area206 acres
Meetinghouse Swamp Wildlife Management Area189 acres
Pratt Farm117 acres
Purchade Brook Wildlife Management Area90 acres
Massasoit State Park37 acres
Warenham St (Off)34 acres
Dodge Property31 acres
Taunton River Watershed (Freitas)17 acres
Cons Land-Oliver Mill Park16 acres
Directions
Westside Playground9 acres
Field of Dreams8 acres
Directions
Warenham St5 acres
Oliver Mill Park5 acres
Directions
Nemasket River1 acres
Veterans Memorial Park1 acres
Directions
Titicut Parish Green1 acres
Directions
Who protects it

9,390 conserved acres

21% of Middleborough’s land. Who manages Middleborough’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

State fish & wildlife1,858 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits1,530 ac
State natural resources1,493 ac
Town or city915 ac
Other state land447 ac
Private owners187 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)94 ac
Conservation Easement · 5,075 acState Conservation Area · 5,024 acLocal Other or Unknown · 374 acRecreation or Education Easement · 306 acWatershed Protection Area · 261 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2,825 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 12 of 267 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Rocky Gutter Wildlife Management Area
State Conservation Area
Not recorded3,655Open
Black Brook Wildlife Management Area
State Conservation Area
Not recorded421Open
Sippican Headwaters Wildlife Management Area
State Conservation Area
Not recorded367Open
Taunton River Wildlife Management Area
State Conservation Area
Not recorded355Open
Tispaquin Pond
State Resource Management Area
Other state land193Open
Meetinghouse Swamp Wildlife Management Area
State Conservation Area
State fish & wildlife189Restricted
Plymouth Rock Campground
Local Park
Private owners187Open
Fall Brook-Washburn Conservation Area
Local Other or Unknown
Not recorded179Open
Purchade Brook Wildlife Management Area
State Conservation Area
State fish & wildlife91Restricted
Town Forest
Local Resource Management Area
Not recorded78Open

5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.

Things to do

14 places to go in Middleborough

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Peaks in Middleborough
Barden Hills177 ft elevation
Directions
Mount Carmel164 ft elevation
Directions
Miller Hill131 ft elevation
Directions
The Highlands131 ft elevation
Directions
White Oak Island121 ft elevation
Directions
Willis Hill98 ft elevation
Directions
Nemasket Hill85 ft elevation
Directions
Trails & water

14 lakes & rivers

Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Beaton - Lebaron Bog ReservoirreservoirDanielle's GardenpondDouble Brook ReservoirreservoirFuller Street Bog ReservoirreservoirGreat Quittacas PondreservoirMaxim Corner PondreservoirNemasket River ReservoirreservoirNevertouch PondPocksha PondSavery PondreservoirTispaquin PondWoods Pondreservoirdrainage pondpondNemasket River
Biking & sports

0.2 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

0.2 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
15Baseball
4Basketball
2Soccer
2Football
2Tennis
1Skate park

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

8 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).

History →
Peter Pierce StoreBuilding · listed 1976
About it
Washburn, C.P., Grain MillBuilding · listed 1980
About it
US Post Office-Middleborough MainBuilding · listed 1987
About it
Middleborough WaterworksDistrict · listed 1990
About it
Tom Thumb HouseBuilding · listed 1993
About it
Middleborough Center Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2000
About it
South Middleborough Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2009
About it
Leonard. Shaw & Dean Shoe FactoryBuilding · listed 2018
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in Middleborough: 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.410.511.813.314.515.214.913.912.411.09.79.1
High (°F)384047586877838174635343
Rain (in)4.33.75.44.63.63.93.33.74.25.04.55.0

July is the driest month (3.3 in) and the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 5.4 inches fall in March, the wettest month. The climate in Middleborough →

Next door

Middleborough and its neighbors

Middleborough has the most mapped trails of the 8 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Middleborough98 miCarver93 miTaunton72 miLakeville34 miRochester26 miBridgewater Town19 miNorth Lakeville5.8 miRaynham3.6 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Middleborough21%1.426764%A
Lakeville24%1.26046%A
Carver15%2.57755%A
Bridgewater Town20%0.76578%A
North Lakeville— not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Raynham11%0.26065%B+
Taunton15%1.55971%A
Rochester25%0.843468%A

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Middleborough

Where can I hike in Middleborough?

The longest trail networks: Rocky Gutter Wildlife Management Area, 22.8 miles; Peirce Playground, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Middleborough is conserved land?

21% 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 Middleborough’s trails?

Rocky Gutter Wildlife Management Area and Peirce Playground don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Middleborough?

0.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.2 of shoulders and shared lanes.

Is there public land near Middleborough?

77,366 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Middleborough or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 8,378 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Middleborough have?

Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #187 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 Middleborough neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →