Myrtle Point Park
Park
194 acres4 mi of trail
Deep Woods TrailKingfisher TrailWet Sox Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in California
6% of California’s land is conserved: 532 acres
The biggest trail networks: Myrtle Point Park (4 mi), Chancellors Run Regional Park (1.3 mi), Saint Mary's River State Park (0.7 mi). 298 acres are parks and preserves, 23 per 1,000 residents. 7.1 miles of mapped trail cross California, 0.6 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 68% of U.S. towns · #140 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
532 acres · of 12.9 sq mi of land
Trails
7.1 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
298 ac
23 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
56%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
16 mi
13 mi lanes · 3.1 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
5
2 beaches
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does California have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, California is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #140 of 261 in Maryland. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of California’s overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical MD town 9% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (7 mi) · MD 0.5 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land23 acres of park per 1,000 residents (298 acres) · MD 9 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home56% of residents within a half mile of a park · MD 87% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 68%
LessMore
Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 47%
Maryland towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 9%; the U.S., 4%), so California’s 6% is ahead of 37% of Maryland towns, while its trails per square mile lead 52% of them.
Water is 14% of California’s area (2 of 15 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 6%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B to B+. 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 Myrtle Point Park, with 4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Chancellors Run Regional Park
Park
69 acres1.3 mi of trail
"Take a walk for you heart" Fitness track
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailhead
Saint Mary's River State Park
Managed by Maryland Park Service
841 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailheadWebsite ↗
Who protects it
532 conserved acres
6% of California’s land. Water is left out: California has 12.9 square miles of land and 2.1 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages California’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County495 ac
Other state land74 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government62 ac
State natural resources54 ac
Not recorded138 ac
Local Park · 214 acConservation Easement · 201 acForest Stewardship Easement · 143 acLocal Other or Unknown · 130 acHistoric or Cultural Easement · 74 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 134 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 23 of 73 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Myrtle Point Park Local Park | County | 186 | Open |
| St. Mary's County Community Landfill Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 124 | Unknown |
| Chancellors Run Regional Park State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 54 | Open |
| Open Space Private Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 23 | Unknown |
| Lp5014 Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 20 | Open |
Things to do
7 places to go in California
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in California
2 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Playgrounds in California
Chancellors Run Regional Park PlaygroundIn Chancellors Run Regional Park
DirectionsDunleigh PlaygroundIn Dunleigh Neighborhood Park
DirectionsTown Creek Park PlaygroundIn Town Creek Park
DirectionsPlus 2 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Trails & water
4 named trails and 5 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 5.4 mi
Deep Woods Trail1.1 mi
"Take a walk for you heart" Fitness track0.5 mi
Kingfisher Trail0.4 mi
Wet Sox Trail0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
16 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
13 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
3.1 mi
off-road bike paths
0.5 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
7Baseball
7Tennis
4Multi-sport
2Basketball
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).
St. Richard's ManorBuilding · listed 1985
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in California: April to June
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) | 9.8 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.1 | 14.2 | 14.8 | 14.6 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 45 | 48 | 56 | 66 | 74 | 83 | 88 | 86 | 79 | 69 | 58 | 49 |
| Rain (in) | 3.1 | 2.7 | 3.9 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 3.2 | 3.6 |
February is the driest month (2.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 4.6 inches fall in August, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in California →
Next door
California and its neighbors
California has the most mapped trails of the 3 towns around it. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 6% | 0.6 | 23 | 56% | B+ |
| Wildewood | 6% | 0.3 | 10 | 99%+ | B+ |
| Lexington Park | 17% | 0.6 | 21 | 78% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in California
Where can I hike in California?
The longest trail networks: Myrtle Point Park, 4 miles; Chancellors Run Regional Park, 1.3 miles; Saint Mary's River State Park, 0.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of California is conserved land?
6% of its land, against a typical 9% for a Maryland town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on California’s trails?
Myrtle Point Park and Chancellors Run Regional Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in California?
16 miles of bike routes are on the map: 13 of painted or protected lanes, 3.1 of off-road paths and 0.5 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near California?
6,897 acres of parks and open public land lie inside California or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 298 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does California have?
Ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #140 of 261 in Maryland. 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 California 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 →