Winimusset Wildlife Management Area
Nature preserve
685 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Richard B. Johnson · CC BY-SA 3.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in New Braintree
New Braintree has 1,036 acres of parks, 1,065 for every 1,000 residents
18% of New Braintree’s land is conserved, about 2,452 acres. 1.3 miles of mapped trail cross New Braintree, 0.1 per square mile of land. 64% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 74% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
18%
2,452 acres · of 20.8 sq mi of land
Trails
1.3 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,036 ac
1,065 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
64%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.7 mi
1.7 mi paths
Highest peak
1,152 ft
Tufts Hill
Lakes & rivers
3
What kind of outdoors town is New Braintree?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does New Braintree have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, New Braintree is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of New Braintree’s overall grade.
Conserved land18% of the land · typical MA town 21% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · MA 1.9 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land1,065 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,036 acres) · MA 91 · U.S. 13A+Parks 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 74%
LessMore
Massachusetts towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 21%; the U.S., 4%), so New Braintree’s 18% is ahead of 38% of Massachusetts towns, while its trails per square mile lead 0% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Ware River Wildlife Management Area
Nature preserve
141 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Winimusset Wildlife Conservation Easement
Nature preserve
80 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Oakham Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Massachusetts Department of Fish & Game
49 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 5 parks & preserves
Winimusset Wildlife Management Area685 acres
Ware River Wildlife Management Area141 acres
Winimusset Wildlife Conservation Easement80 acres
Oakham Wildlife Management Area49 acres · Massachusetts Department of Fish & Game
Cusky Pond Access21 acres
Who protects it
2,452 conserved acres
18% of New Braintree’s land. Who manages New Braintree’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Other state land2,553 ac
State natural resources101 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits69 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)39 ac
Joint39 ac
State fish & wildlife4 ac
Not recorded982 ac
Agricultural Easement · 2,630 acState Conservation Area · 870 acConservation Easement · 170 acPrivate Conservation · 54 acUnknown · 34 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,470 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 89 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winimusset Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 679 | Open |
| Ware River Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 137 | Open |
| Oakham Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 51 | Open |
| Camp Putnam Private Conservation | Not recorded | 42 | Restricted |
| Unknown Unknown | Not recorded | 34 | Unknown |
| Cusky Pond Access State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 24 | Open |
| Mass Central Rail Trail Private Conservation | Not recorded | 11 | Open |
| Sucker Brook Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 2 | Open |
| Whortleberry Hill Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 1 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in New Braintree
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in New Braintree
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Peaks in New Braintree
Tufts Hill1,152 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
3 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
1.7 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.7 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in New Braintree: 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) | 34 | 37 | 44 | 57 | 68 | 76 | 81 | 80 | 73 | 61 | 49 | 38 |
| Rain (in) | 3.6 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.8 | 3.7 | 4.3 |
February is the driest month (3.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 4.8 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in New Braintree →
Next door
New Braintree 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Braintree | 18% | 0.1 | 1,065 | 64% | B+ |
| Hardwick | 40% | 0.4 | 1,342 | 85% | A |
| West Brookfield | 24% | 0.4 | 500 | 66% | A |
| North Brookfield | 16% | 0.2 | 203 | 77% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in New Braintree
How much of New Braintree is conserved land?
18% 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 Braintree’s trails?
Winimusset Wildlife Management Area and Ware River Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in New Braintree?
1.7 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.7 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near New Braintree?
38,421 acres of parks and open public land lie inside New Braintree or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,065 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does New Braintree have?
Ahead of 74% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Braintree 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 →