Southampton Wildlife Management Area
Nature preserve
127 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 4.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Southampton
25% of Southampton’s land is conserved: 4,485 acres
566 acres are parks and preserves, 91 per 1,000 residents. 32 miles of mapped trail cross Southampton, 1.1 per square mile of land. 56% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 90% of U.S. towns · #223 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
Conserved land
25%
4,485 acres · of 28.1 sq mi of land
Trails
32 mi
1.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
566 ac
91 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
56%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.1 mi
0.1 mi paths
Highest peak
1,155 ft
Pomeroy Mountain
Lakes & rivers
5
What kind of outdoors town is Southampton?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Southampton have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Southampton is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns, #223 of 283 in Massachusetts. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Southampton’s overall grade.
Conserved land25% of the land · typical MA town 21% · U.S. 4%ATrails1.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (32 mi) · MA 1.9 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land91 acres of park per 1,000 residents (566 acres) · MA 91 · U.S. 13AParks close to home56% 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 90%
LessMore
Massachusetts towns of 2,500+ (283)Ahead of 21%
Massachusetts towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 21%; the U.S., 4%), so Southampton’s 25% is ahead of 63% of Massachusetts towns, while its trails per square mile lead 24% 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Manhan Meadow
Nature preserve
42 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Pomeroy Meadows Conservation Area
Nature preserve
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
4,485 conserved acres
25% of Southampton’s land. Who manages Southampton’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Other state land1,804 ac
Town or city650 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits310 ac
State fish & wildlife126 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)90 ac
Joint27 ac
Not recorded2,872 ac
Watershed Protection Area · 2,141 acAgricultural Easement · 1,888 acConservation Easement · 855 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 305 acLocal Other or Unknown · 256 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,418 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 110 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holyoke Watershed Lands Watershed Protection Area | Not recorded | 2,117 | Closed |
| Southampton Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 172 | Open |
| Southampton Country Club Private Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 165 | Restricted |
| Szczypta Conservation Area Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 121 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 112 | Open |
| Holyoke Beagle Club Private Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 109 | Restricted |
| Pomeroy Mountain Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 78 | Open |
| Hartnett-Manhan Memorial Forest Private Conservation | Not recorded | 47 | Unknown |
| Pleasant Street Conservation Area Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 38 | Open |
| Easthampton Fish and Game Club Private Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 31 | Restricted |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
6 places to go in Southampton
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Southampton
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Southampton
Pomeroy Mountain1,155 ft elevation
DirectionsWolf Hill669 ft elevation
DirectionsLittle Mountain459 ft elevation
DirectionsFlat Hill446 ft elevation
DirectionsWhiteloaf Mountain374 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
5 named trails and 5 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 0.7 miHorses · 0.5 miUnpaved · 3.8 mi
Wolf Hill Sanctuary0.5 mi
Green Loop Trail0.5 mi
Alice Brown Trail0.4 mi
Red Loop Trail0.3 mi
Yellow Ridge Spur Trail0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.1 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
4Baseball
2Soccer
2Tennis
2Pickleball
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Southampton: April 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) | 35 | 38 | 46 | 60 | 72 | 80 | 85 | 83 | 75 | 63 | 51 | 40 |
| Rain (in) | 3.3 | 3.0 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.6 | 4.9 | 3.6 | 4.2 |
February is the driest month (3.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 4.9 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Southampton →
Next door
Southampton and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Holyoke85 miWesthampton37 miHuntington36 miEasthampton33 miSouthampton32 miWestfield31 miMontgomery21 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southampton | 25% | 1.1 | 91 | 56% | A |
| Easthampton | 25% | 2.5 | 72 | 99%+ | A+ |
| Holyoke | 41% | 4.0 | 128 | 99%+ | A+ |
| Montgomery | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Westfield | 17% | 0.7 | 37 | 85% | A |
| Westhampton | 26% | 1.4 | 949 | 67% | 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 Southampton
How much of Southampton is conserved land?
25% 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 Southampton’s trails?
Southampton Wildlife Management Area and Manhan Meadow don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Southampton?
0.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.1 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Southampton?
54,136 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Southampton or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 700 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Southampton have?
Ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #223 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 Southampton 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 →