Phillipston Wildlife Management Area
Nature preserve
1,949 acres2.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Phillipston
Phillipston has 4,008 acres of parks, 2,115 for every 1,000 residents
41% of Phillipston’s land is conserved, about 6,427 acres. The biggest trail networks: Phillipston Wildlife Management Area (2.1 mi), Millers River Wildlife Management Area (2 mi), Harvard Forest (1.2 mi). 16 miles of mapped trail cross Phillipston, 0.7 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
41%
6,427 acres · of 24.2 sq mi of land
Trails
16 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
4,008 ac
2,115 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
71%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.3 mi
1.3 mi paths
Highest peak
1,365 ft
Prospect Hill
Lakes & rivers
7
1 beach · 1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Phillipston?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Phillipston have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Phillipston is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns. 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 Phillipston’s overall grade.
Conserved land41% of the land · typical MA town 21% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (16 mi) · MA 1.9 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land2,115 acres of park per 1,000 residents (4,008 acres) · MA 91 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home71% 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 conserve more land than most (a typical one, 21%; the U.S., 4%), so Phillipston’s 41% is ahead of 92% of Massachusetts towns, while its trails per square mile lead 9% 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 Phillipston WMA, with 2.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Millers River Wildlife Management Area
Nature preserve
618 acres2 mi of trail
Blue and Yellow TrailThousand Acre Brook TrailObservation Hill Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Harvard Forest
Nature preserve
303 acres1.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Elliott Laurel
Managed by Trustees of Reservations
31 acres0.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Ware River Watershed
Nature preserve
319 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Baldwin Hill Conservation Area
Nature preserve
75 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Popple Camp Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Department of Fish And Game
808 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 12 parks & preserves
Phillipston Wildlife Management Area1,949 acres · 2.1 mi of trail
DirectionsMillers River Wildlife Management Area618 acres · 2 mi of trail
Harvard Forest303 acres · 1.2 mi of trail
Elliott Laurel31 acres · 0.8 mi of trail · Trustees of Reservations
DirectionsWare River Watershed319 acres · 0.7 mi of trail
Baldwin Hill Conservation Area75 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
Popple Camp Wildlife Management Area808 acres · 0.4 mi of trail · Department of Fish And Game
Fox Valley Wildlife Sanctuary52 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Lamb City Campground69 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Stone Bridge Wildlife Management Area292 acres
Hubbardston State Forest78 acres
Highland Avenue Conservation Area57 acres
Who protects it
6,427 conserved acres
41% of Phillipston’s land. Who manages Phillipston’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city1,030 ac
State conservation723 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits588 ac
Joint412 ac
State parks392 ac
State natural resources269 ac
State fish & wildlife227 ac
State Conservation Area · 3,529 acConservation Easement · 2,571 acForest Stewardship Easement · 642 acWatershed Protection Area · 603 acRecreation or Education Easement · 391 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2,025 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 112 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phillipston Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 1,972 | Open |
| Popple Camp Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 811 | Open |
| Millers River Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 506 | Open |
| Ware River Watershed Watershed Protection Area | Not recorded | 381 | Restricted |
| Stone Bridge Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 298 | Open |
| Harvard Forest Private Conservation | Not recorded | 203 | Restricted |
| Ware River Watershed Area Watershed Protection Area | State conservation | 156 | Closed |
| Hubbardston State Forest State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 77 | Open |
| Athol Watershed Watershed Protection Area | Not recorded | 66 | Open |
| Mary De La Vallette Sanctuary Private Conservation | Not recorded | 45 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
12 places to go in Phillipston
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Phillipston
1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in Phillipston
4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Phillipston
1 boat launch without a name on the map.
Peaks in Phillipston
Prospect Hill1,365 ft elevation · In Harvard Forest
DirectionsBaldwin Hill1,348 ft elevation
DirectionsWard Hill1,329 ft elevation
DirectionsSearle Hill1,257 ft elevation
DirectionsCommunity gardens in Phillipston
Phillipston Community Garden
DirectionsPlus 1 community garden without a name on the map.
Trails & water
3 named trails and 7 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 6.5 mi
Blue and Yellow Trail0.9 mi
Thousand Acre Brook Trail0.2 mi
Observation Hill Trail0.1 mi
Biking & sports
1.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.3 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
8Equestrian
3Tennis
3Baseball
2Basketball
1Softball
1Volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 2 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Phillipston: 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) | 32 | 35 | 43 | 56 | 67 | 75 | 80 | 79 | 71 | 59 | 47 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 3.6 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 4.6 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 5.0 | 3.7 | 4.3 |
February is the driest month (3.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 5.0 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Phillipston →
Next door
Phillipston and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Phillipston
Where can I hike in Phillipston?
The longest trail networks: Phillipston Wildlife Management Area, 2.1 miles; Millers River Wildlife Management Area, 2 miles; Harvard Forest, 1.2 miles; Elliott Laurel, 0.8 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Phillipston is conserved land?
41% 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 Phillipston’s trails?
Phillipston Wildlife Management Area and Millers River Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Phillipston?
1.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.3 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Phillipston?
68,617 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Phillipston or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 4,457 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Phillipston have?
Ahead of 94% 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 Phillipston 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 →