MacLeish Field Station
Nature preserve
208 acres3.5 mi of trail
West Loop trailEast Loop trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Photo: ToddC4176 · CC BY-SA 3.0A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Whately
Whately has 1,667 acres of parks, 1,112 for every 1,000 residents
31% of Whately’s land is conserved, about 4,048 acres. 21 miles of mapped trail cross Whately, 1.0 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: MacLeish Field Station (3.5 mi), Mt. Esther Wildlife Management Area (1.7 mi), Whately Center Woods Nature Retreat (1.7 mi).
Ahead of 97% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
31%
4,048 acres · of 20.2 sq mi of land
Trails
21 mi
1.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,667 ac
1,112 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
85%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.1 mi
0.1 mi lanes
Highest peak
984 ft
Mount Esther
Lakes & rivers
3
What kind of outdoors town is Whately?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Whately have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Whately is ahead of 97% 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 Whately’s overall grade.
Conserved land31% of the land · typical MA town 21% · U.S. 4%ATrails1.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (21 mi) · MA 1.9 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land1,112 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,667 acres) · MA 91 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home85% 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 97%
LessMore
Massachusetts towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 21%; the U.S., 4%), so Whately’s 31% is ahead of 76% of Massachusetts towns, while its trails per square mile lead 21% 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 MacLeish Field Station, with 3.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Mt. Esther Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Department of Fish and Game
273 acres1.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Whately Center Woods Nature Retreat
Nature preserve
118 acres1.7 mi of trail
Big Loop TrailShortcut Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Graves Farm Wildlife Sanctuary
Nature preserve
85 acres0.5 mi of trail
No dogs
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
All 8 parks & preserves
MacLeish Field Station208 acres · 3.5 mi of trail
Mt. Esther Wildlife Management Area273 acres · 1.7 mi of trail · Department of Fish and Game
Whately Center Woods Nature Retreat118 acres · 1.7 mi of trail
DirectionsGraves Farm Wildlife Sanctuary85 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
Great Swamp Wildlife Management Area633 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · Department of Fish and Game
DirectionsWhately Wildlife Management Area409 acres · Department of Fish And Game
Connecticut River Greenway State Park14 acres
DirectionsHerlihy Park10 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
4,048 conserved acres
31% of Whately’s land. Who manages Whately’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Other state land1,119 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits817 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)437 ac
State fish & wildlife261 ac
Joint120 ac
Town or city118 ac
State parks77 ac
Agricultural Easement · 1,692 acState Conservation Area · 1,523 acWatershed Protection Area · 1,139 acConservation Easement · 1,005 acPrivate Conservation · 85 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,423 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 14 of 177 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northampton Water Supply Land Watershed Protection Area | Not recorded | 1,088 | Closed |
| Great Swamp Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 850 | Restricted |
| Whately Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 413 | Open |
| Mt. Esther Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 260 | Open |
| Graves Farm Wildlife Sanctuary Private Conservation | Not recorded | 85 | Restricted |
| Connecticut River Greenway State Park State Park | Not recorded | 42 | Open |
| South Deerfield Water Supply Land Watershed Protection Area | Not recorded | 36 | Closed |
| Tri-Town Beach Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 26 | Open |
| Town of Whately Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 14 | Open |
| Whately Water Supply Land Watershed Protection Area | Not recorded | 12 | Unknown |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
8 places to go in Whately
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Whately
Mount Esther984 ft elevation · In Mt. Esther Wildlife Management Area
DirectionsHog Mountain961 ft elevation · In Whately Wildlife Management Area
DirectionsGrass Hill817 ft elevation
DirectionsChestnut Mountain768 ft elevation
DirectionsStone Mountain627 ft elevation
DirectionsBull Hill597 ft elevation
DirectionsSpruce Hill505 ft elevation
DirectionsCampgrounds in Whately
Whately Oaks Primitive CampsiteIn Connecticut River Greenway State Park · Appalachian Mountain Club
DirectionsTrails & water
4 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 2.8 miUnpaved · 4.0 mi
Big Loop Trail0.9 mi
West Loop trail0.6 mi
East Loop trail0.5 mi
Shortcut Trail0.2 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
painted or protected bike lanes
Courts & fields
3Baseball
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).
Whately Center Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2003
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Whately: 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 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 34 | 37 | 46 | 59 | 71 | 79 | 84 | 82 | 75 | 62 | 50 | 39 |
| Rain (in) | 3.4 | 3.0 | 3.6 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 3.6 | 4.3 |
February is the driest month (3.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.8 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Whately →
Next door
Whately and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Deerfield63 miConway60 miHatfield41 miWilliamsburg39 miSunderland35 miWhately21 miSouth Deerfield7.9 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whately | 31% | 1.0 | 1,112 | 85% | A+ |
| Sunderland | 42% | 2.5 | 214 | 47% | A |
| Deerfield | 19% | 1.9 | 245 | 60% | A |
| Hatfield | 16% | 2.6 | 121 | 59% | A |
| Conway | 32% | 1.6 | 2,118 | 47% | A |
| Williamsburg | 29% | 1.5 | 576 | 60% | A |
| South Deerfield | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Whately
Where can I hike in Whately?
The longest trail networks: MacLeish Field Station, 3.5 miles; Mt. Esther Wildlife Management Area, 1.7 miles; Whately Center Woods Nature Retreat, 1.7 miles; Graves Farm Wildlife Sanctuary, 0.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Whately is conserved land?
31% 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 Whately’s trails?
MacLeish Field Station and Mt. Esther Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Whately?
0.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.1 of painted or protected lanes.
Is there public land near Whately?
61,110 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Whately or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,718 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Whately have?
Ahead of 97% 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 Whately 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 →