Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0

Outdoors in Russell

45% of Russell’s land is conserved: 4,973 acres

1,127 acres are parks and preserves, 942 per 1,000 residents. 19 miles of mapped trail cross Russell, 1.1 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Tekoa Mountain Wildlife Management Area (6.8 mi), Tekoa Park (1 mi).

Ahead of 93% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Conserved land

45%

4,973 acres · of 17.5 sq mi of land

Trails

19 mi

1.1 per sq mi of land

Park land

1,127 ac

942 acres per 1,000 residents

Near a park

52%

of residents within ½ mile

Highest peak

1,204 ft

Holiday Hill

Lakes & rivers

What kind of outdoors town is Russell?

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

Land that stays wild45% of the land is conserved; a typical Massachusetts town, 21%.Room to roam942 acres of park per 1,000 residents; the typical U.S. town has 13.A trail town1.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 83% of U.S. towns.

Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Russell have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Russell is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.

OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Russell’s overall grade.

Conserved land45% of the land · typical MA town 21% · U.S. 4%A⁺Trails1.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (19 mi) · MA 1.9 · U.S. 0.4A⁻Park land942 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,127 acres) · MA 91 · U.S. 13A⁺Parks close to home52% 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 93%

LessMore

Massachusetts towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 21%; the U.S., 4%), so Russell’s 45% is ahead of 95% of Massachusetts towns, while its trails per square mile lead 23% 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 Tekoa Mountain WMA, with 6.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Tekoa Mountain Wildlife Management Area

Nature preserve

798 acres6.8 mi of trail

Shatterack path (white)

Dog rules not recorded

No trailhead mapped yet

Tekoa Park

Nature preserve

40 acres1 mi of trail

Dog rules not recorded

Directionsto the parking lot

Blandford / Russell Wce (Loveland Lot)

Nature preserve

188 acres

Dog rules not recorded

No trailhead mapped yet

Strathmore Park

Park

17 acres

Dog rules not recorded

No trailhead mapped yet

All 5 parks & preserves

Tekoa Mountain Wildlife Management Area798 acres · 6.8 mi of trail

Tekoa Park40 acres · 1 mi of trail

Directions

Blandford / Russell Wce (Loveland Lot)188 acres

Strathmore Park17 acres

Town Park8 acres

Directions

Who protects it

4,973 conserved acres

45% of Russell’s land. Who manages Russell’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Town or city757 ac

Other state land498 ac

USDA easements (NRCS)249 ac

State natural resources188 ac

State fish & wildlife188 ac

Not recorded4,126 ac

Watershed Protection Area · 1,782 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 1,513 acConservation Easement · 1,075 acState Conservation Area · 802 acAgricultural Easement · 747 ac

Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 788 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 3 of 30 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels

Parcel (PAD-US)	Managed by	Acres	Public access
Russell Watershed Watershed Protection Area	Not recorded	1,763	Closed
Moses Scout Reservation Private Other or Unknown	Not recorded	1,173	Restricted
Tekoa Mountain Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area	Not recorded	802	Open
Wippernon Golf Course Private Other or Unknown	Not recorded	340	Restricted
Tekoa Park Local Park	Town or city	37	Open
Strathmore Park Local Recreation Area	Town or city	20	Open
Russell Water Supply Land Watershed Protection Area	Not recorded	15	Unknown
Peckham Lot Local Other or Unknown	Not recorded	11	Open
Russell Elementary School Playground Research or Educational Area	Not recorded	5	Open
Russell Cemetery Local Historic or Cultural Area	Not recorded	4	Open

5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.

Things to do

12 places to go in Russell

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

Peaks in Russell

Holiday Hill1,204 ft elevation

Directions

Punchbowl Mountain1,076 ft elevation

Directions

Russell Mountain1,053 ft elevation

Directions

Mount Nero1,010 ft elevation

Directions

Turtle Bend Mountain817 ft elevation

Directions

Trails & water

16 named trails and 6 lakes & rivers

Named trails

Unpaved · 1.4 mi

Border Trail3.0 mi

Pitcher Brook Trail1.6 mi

Charcoal Kiln Trail1.1 mi

Shatterack path (white)1.0 mi

Country Road Trail0.6 mi

Woodland Trail0.6 mi

Circuit Trail0.5 mi

Link Trail0.5 mi

Ann's Trail0.4 mi

Mac Ross Trail0.4 mi

6 more trails

Forish Trail

0.4 mi

Spring Trail

0.3 mi

Sunnyside Trail

0.2 mi

Short Circuit

0.1 mi

Lookout Trail

0.1 mi

Gantt Trail

0.1 mi

Lakes & rivers tap for directions

Pitcher Falls Russell Pondreservoir Russell Reservoirreservoir Springfield Water Works Intake Reservoirreservoir Little River Westfield River

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

2Baseball

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

History along the way

1 place on the National Register

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

History →

Russell Center Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1996

About it

When to get out

The best walking months in Russell: 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	15.2	15.0	13.9	12.4	11.0	9.7	9.1
High (°F)	33	36	45	58	69	77	82	80	73	61	49	38
Rain (in)	3.6	3.2	4.2	4.3	3.9	4.7	4.4	4.4	4.6	5.1	4.0	4.6

February is the driest month (3.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 5.1 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Russell →

Next door

Russell and its neighbors

Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Granville46 mi Blandford45 mi Huntington36 mi Westfield31 mi Montgomery21 mi Russell19 mi

Town	Conserved of land	Trail mi per sq mi	Park acres per 1,000	Near a park ½ mile	Outdoors
Russell	45%	1.1	942	52%	A
Westfield	17%	0.7	37	85%	A
Montgomery	— not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Blandford	51%	0.9	3,087	74%	A⁺
Granville	52%	1.1	574	25%	A
Huntington	28%	1.4	1,122	63%	A

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

Questions about parks and trails in Russell

Where can I hike in Russell?

The longest trail networks: Tekoa Mountain Wildlife Management Area, 6.8 miles; Tekoa Park, 1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Russell is conserved land?

45% 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 Russell’s trails?

Tekoa Mountain Wildlife Management Area and Tekoa Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Is there public land near Russell?

53,434 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Russell or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,480 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Russell have?

Ahead of 93% 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 Russell 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 →

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45% of Russell’s land is conserved: 4,973 acres

What kind of outdoors town is Russell?

How much outdoors does Russell have?

Conserved land, trails & bike routes

Pick a walk

Tekoa Mountain Wildlife Management Area

Tekoa Park

Blandford / Russell Wce (Loveland Lot)

Strathmore Park

4,973 conserved acres

12 places to go in Russell

16 named trails and 6 lakes & rivers

0.0 miles of bike routes

1 place on the National Register

The best walking months in Russell: May to September

Russell and its neighbors

Questions about parks and trails in Russell

Trail talk

Where this page comes from