Land Behind Dennett School
Managed by Town Of Plympton
73 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 4.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Plympton
Plympton has 40 miles of mapped trails, 2.7 for every square mile of land
109 acres are parks and preserves, 37 per 1,000 residents. 38% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 3% of Plympton’s land is conserved, about 265 acres.
Ahead of 71% of U.S. towns · #277 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
265 acres · of 14.7 sq mi of land
Trails
40 mi
2.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
109 ac
37 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
38%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
118 ft
Prospect Hill
Lakes & rivers
6
What kind of outdoors town is Plympton?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Plympton have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Plympton is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns, #277 of 283 in Massachusetts. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Plympton’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical MA town 21% · U.S. 4%B−Trails2.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (40 mi) · MA 1.9 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land37 acres of park per 1,000 residents (109 acres) · MA 91 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home38% of residents within a half mile of a park · MA 93% · U.S. 72%C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 71%
LessMore
Massachusetts towns of 2,500+ (283)Ahead of 2%
Massachusetts towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 21%; the U.S., 4%), so Plympton’s 3% is ahead of 0% of Massachusetts towns, while its trails per square mile lead 70% 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
The longest trail network is Land Behind Dennett School, with 0.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Wildlands Trust off of West Street
Managed by WILDLANDS TRUST INC
15 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Town Forest
Nature preserve
15 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
265 conserved acres
3% of Plympton’s land. Who manages Plympton’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits32 ac
Other state land4 ac
Not recorded229 ac
Research or Educational Area · 73 acLocal Park · 54 acPrivate Conservation · 47 acLocal Other or Unknown · 36 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 25 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 5 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 14 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dennent School Conservation Area Research or Educational Area | Not recorded | 73 | Open |
| Harry Jason Jr Memorial Park Local Park | Not recorded | 54 | Open |
| Person Preserve Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 31 | Closed |
| Upland Sportsmans Club Private Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 25 | Restricted |
| Winnetuxet River Preserve Private Conservation | Not recorded | 15 | Open |
| Jones Barrows Brook Conservation Area Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 15 | Open |
| Winnetuxet Swimming Hole Conservation Area Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 14 | Open |
| Briggs-Parker Wood Cemetery Local Historic or Cultural Area | Not recorded | 11 | Open |
| Town Forest Local Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 11 | Restricted |
| Robert Holt Mem. Field Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 6 | Open |
2 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
2 places to go in Plympton
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Plympton
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Plympton
Prospect Hill118 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
4 named trails and 6 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 2.1 mi
Bog Trail1.0 mi
Sawmill Trail0.4 mi
Whetstone Trail0.4 mi
Bog Path0.2 mi
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
1Basketball
1Baseball
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Plympton Village Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2007
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Plympton: 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 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 38 | 41 | 47 | 58 | 68 | 77 | 83 | 82 | 74 | 63 | 53 | 44 |
| Rain (in) | 4.3 | 3.7 | 5.3 | 4.6 | 3.6 | 3.9 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 4.9 | 4.5 | 4.9 |
July is the driest month (3.3 in) and the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 5.3 inches fall in March, the wettest month. The climate in Plympton →
Next door
Plympton 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plympton | 3% | 2.7 | 37 | 38% | B+ |
| Halifax | 25% | 2.1 | 262 | 93% | A+ |
| Kingston | 19% | 1.7 | 74 | 93% | A+ |
| Carver | 15% | 2.5 | 77 | 55% | A |
| Middleborough | 21% | 1.4 | 267 | 64% | A |
| Pembroke | 19% | 1.5 | 77 | 87% | A+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Plympton
Where can I hike in Plympton?
The longest trail networks: Land Behind Dennett School, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Plympton is conserved land?
3% 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 Plympton’s trails?
Land Behind Dennett School and Wildlands Trust off of West Street don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Plympton?
47,495 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Plympton or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 109 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Plympton have?
Ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #277 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 Plympton 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 →