Wachusett Reservoir Watershed
Managed by Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
3,229 acres6.6 mi of trail
White Oak Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Mount Vernon Cemetery · Photo: Pvmoutside · CC BY-SA 3.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in West Boylston
44% of West Boylston’s land is conserved: 3,616 acres
12 miles of mapped trail cross West Boylston, 0.9 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Wachusett Reservoir Watershed (6.6 mi). 55 acres are parks and preserves, 7.1 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 72% of U.S. towns · #276 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
Conserved land
44%
3,616 acres · of 13.0 sq mi of land
Trails
12 mi
0.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
55 ac
7.1 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
54%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.3 mi
1.3 mi paths
Highest peak
853 ft
Malden Hill
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is West Boylston?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does West Boylston have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, West Boylston is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns, #276 of 283 in Massachusetts. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of West Boylston’s overall grade.
Conserved land44% of the land · typical MA town 21% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (12 mi) · MA 1.9 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land7.1 acres of park per 1,000 residents (55 acres) · MA 91 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home54% 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 72%
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 West Boylston’s 44% is ahead of 95% of Massachusetts towns, while its trails per square mile lead 17% of them.
Water is 7% of West Boylston’s area (1 of 14 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 41%.
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 Wachusett Reservoir Watershed, with 6.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Town Hall Leaching Field
Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
3,616 conserved acres
44% of West Boylston’s land. Water is left out: West Boylston has 13.0 square miles of land and 0.9 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages West Boylston’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation1,465 ac
Other state land158 ac
Town or city85 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)79 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government15 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits14 ac
Joint5 ac
Watershed Protection Area · 4,340 acAgricultural Easement · 237 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 234 acConservation Easement · 224 acLocal Park · 43 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 118 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 134 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wachusett Reservoir Watershed Watershed Protection Area | Not recorded | 2,957 | Restricted |
| DCR - Division of Water Supply Protection 10 Watershed Protection Area | State conservation | 517 | Closed |
| Wachusett Reservoir Watershed Protection Area | State conservation | 236 | Closed |
| Wachusett Country Club Private Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 181 | Restricted |
| Wachusett Watershed Watershed Protection Area | State conservation | 116 | Closed |
| DCR - Division of Water Supply Protection 1 Watershed Protection Area | State conservation | 107 | Closed |
| DCR Division of Water Supply Protection 1 Watershed Protection Area | State conservation | 56 | Closed |
| Woodhaven Campground Private Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 53 | Restricted |
| DCR - Division of Water Supply Protection 24 Watershed Protection Area | State conservation | 45 | Closed |
| Former Pusateri Watershed Protection Area | State conservation | 44 | Closed |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
6 places to go in West Boylston
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in West Boylston
Pride Park Playground
DirectionsPlus 1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Waterfalls in West Boylston
1 waterfall without a name on the map.
Peaks in West Boylston
Malden Hill853 ft elevation
DirectionsFrench Hill561 ft elevation · In Wachusett Reservoir Watershed
DirectionsPine Hill528 ft elevation · In Wachusett Reservoir Watershed
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 3.9 mi
Blueberry HIll0.4 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
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
6Basketball
5Tennis
4Baseball
1Lacrosse
1Football
1Softball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →7 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 4 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Old Stone ChurchBuilding · listed 1973
About itBenjamin Flagg HouseBuilding · listed 1980
About itQuinepoxet River BridgeStructure · listed 1990
About itBigelow Tavern Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1992
About itOakdale Village Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1996
About itMount Vernon CemeterySite · listed 2008
About itBeaman Memorial Public LibraryBuilding · listed 2016
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in West Boylston: 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) | 35 | 37 | 45 | 58 | 69 | 77 | 83 | 81 | 74 | 62 | 50 | 40 |
| Rain (in) | 3.7 | 3.3 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 4.3 |
February is the driest month (3.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 5.0 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in West Boylston →
Next door
West Boylston 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Boylston | 44% | 0.9 | 7 | 54% | B+ |
| Boylston | 40% | 2.5 | 125 | 44% | A |
| Sterling | 38% | 0.8 | 113 | 65% | A |
| Shrewsbury | 8% | 1.7 | 18 | 86% | A |
| Holden | 45% | 1.9 | 112 | 55% | A |
| Worcester | 11% | 1.9 | 12 | 98% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in West Boylston
Where can I hike in West Boylston?
The longest trail networks: Wachusett Reservoir Watershed, 6.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of West Boylston is conserved land?
44% 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 West Boylston’s trails?
Wachusett Reservoir Watershed and Goodale Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in West Boylston?
1.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.3 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near West Boylston?
37,555 acres of parks and open public land lie inside West Boylston or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 84 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does West Boylston have?
Ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #276 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 West Boylston 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 →