Rotch, William J., Gothic Cottage · Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.019% of New Bedford’s land is conserved: 2,405 acres
92% of residents live within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Fort Taber Park (1 mi), Riverside Park (0.8 mi), Buttonwood Park (0.5 mi). 2,171 acres are parks and preserves, 22 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 86% of U.S. towns · #246 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is New Bedford?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does New Bedford have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, New Bedford is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #246 of 283 in Massachusetts. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, trail miles lowest.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, New Bedford ranks #126 on Outdoors.
Massachusetts towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 21%; the U.S., 4%), so New Bedford’s 19% is ahead of 39% of Massachusetts towns, while its trails per square mile lead 7% of them.
Water is 17% of New Bedford’s area (4 of 24 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 16%.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Fort Taber Park, with 1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
All 27 parks & preserves
2,405 conserved acres
19% of New Bedford’s land. Water is left out: New Bedford has 20.0 square miles of land and 4.1 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages New Bedford’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 84 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 8 of 78 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acushnet Cedar Swamp State Reservation State Park | Not recorded | 1,551 | Open |
| Whaling City Golf Course Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 245 | Restricted |
| Buttonwood Park Local Park | Not recorded | 90 | Open |
| Brooklawn Park Local Park | Town or city | 78 | Open |
| Clarks Cove Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 39 | Open |
| City of New Bedford Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 35 | Open |
| Ross C Mathieu Nature Trail Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 27 | Open |
| Hazelwood Park Local Park | Town or city | 22 | Open |
| New Bedford High School Fields Research or Educational Area | Not recorded | 20 | Open |
| Victory Park Local Park | Town or city | 19 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
48 places to go in New Bedford
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Plus 17 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Plus 21 playgrounds without a name on the map.
3 boat launches without a name on the map.
2 named trails and 5 lakes & rivers
19 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
41 places on the National Register, 6 of them National Historic Landmarks
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 21 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
29 more on the History page.
The best walking months in New Bedford: 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) | 9.5 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 39 | 40 | 46 | 56 | 67 | 76 | 82 | 81 | 74 | 63 | 53 | 44 |
| Rain (in) | 3.9 | 3.6 | 5.2 | 4.4 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 3.2 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 4.6 | 4.3 | 4.8 |
July is the driest month (3.2 in) and the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 5.2 inches fall in March, the wettest month. The climate in New Bedford →
New Bedford and its neighbors
New Bedford has the second most mapped trails of the 7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Bedford | 19% | 0.5 | 22 | 92% | A |
| Fairhaven | 19% | 0.6 | 28 | 97% | A |
| Acushnet | 11% | 0.2 | 84 | 73% | A− |
| Dartmouth | 29% | 1.0 | 169 | 84% | A+ |
| Acushnet Center | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Bliss Corner | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Smith Mills | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in New Bedford
Where can I hike in New Bedford?
The longest trail networks: Fort Taber Park, 1 miles; Riverside Park, 0.8 miles; Buttonwood Park, 0.5 miles; Brooklawn Park, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of New Bedford is conserved land?
19% 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 New Bedford’s trails?
Fort Taber Park and Riverside Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in New Bedford?
19 miles of bike routes are on the map: 11 of painted or protected lanes, 6.3 of off-road paths and 1.1 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near New Bedford?
42,292 acres of parks and open public land lie inside New Bedford or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 2,178 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does New Bedford have?
Ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #246 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 New Bedford neighbors.
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 →