Charlestown Athletic Complex
Managed by Town of Charlestown
6 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Charlestown Historic District · Photo: Smallbones · CC BY-SA 3.0C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Charlestown
Charlestown has 7 acres of parks, 3.6 for every 1,000 residents
1.1 miles of mapped trail cross Charlestown, 0.9 per square mile of land. 2% of Charlestown’s land is conserved, about 12 acres. 56% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 44% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
12 acres · of 1.2 sq mi of land
Trails
1.1 mi
0.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
7 ac
3.6 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
56%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Charlestown?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Charlestown have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Charlestown is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Charlestown’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical MD town 9% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · MD 0.5 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land3.6 acres of park per 1,000 residents (7 acres) · MD 9 · U.S. 13CParks 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 44%
LessMore
Maryland towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 9%; the U.S., 4%), so Charlestown’s 2% is ahead of 6% of Maryland towns, while its trails per square mile lead 71% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
12 conserved acres
2% of Charlestown’s land. Who manages Charlestown’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Other state land6 ac
State natural resources5 ac
Town or city5 ac
State conservation4 ac
Local Park · 5 acConservation Easement · 5 acLocal Recreation Area · 5 acUnknown Easement · 4 acHistoric or Cultural Easement · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 3 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 3 of 10 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charlestown Local Park | Other state land | 5 | Open |
| Charlestown Athletic Complex Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 5 | Open |
Things to do
5 places to go in Charlestown
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Charlestown
Trinity Woods Playground
DirectionsPlus 2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Charlestown
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Campgrounds in Charlestown
Holloway Beach Campground
DirectionsBiking & 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
2Tennis
1Baseball
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 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 Charlestown: April to June and August
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) | 9.7 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 41 | 44 | 52 | 64 | 73 | 82 | 87 | 85 | 78 | 67 | 56 | 46 |
| Rain (in) | 3.3 | 2.7 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 4.8 | 4.3 | 4.7 | 4.0 | 3.2 | 4.0 |
February is the driest month (2.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 4.8 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Charlestown →
Questions about parks and trails in Charlestown
How much of Charlestown is conserved land?
2% 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 Charlestown’s trails?
Charlestown Athletic Complex doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Charlestown?
5,888 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Charlestown or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 7 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Charlestown have?
Ahead of 44% 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 Charlestown 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 →