Kent Island Research Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Wildlife and Heritage Service
28 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Chester
12% of Chester’s land is conserved: 409 acres
47% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 41 acres are parks and preserves, 8.6 per 1,000 residents. 1.1 miles of mapped trail cross Chester, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 50% of U.S. towns · #195 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
Conserved land
12%
409 acres · of 5.2 sq mi of land
Trails
1.1 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
41 ac
8.6 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
47%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.2 mi
2.2 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
3
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Chester?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Chester have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Chester is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns, #195 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 Chester’s overall grade.
Conserved land12% of the land · typical MD town 9% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · MD 0.5 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land8.6 acres of park per 1,000 residents (41 acres) · MD 9 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home47% of residents within a half mile of a park · MD 87% · U.S. 72%C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 50%
LessMore
Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 25%
Maryland towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 9%; the U.S., 4%), so Chester’s 12% is ahead of 65% of Maryland towns, while its trails per square mile lead 23% of them.
Water is 25% of Chester’s area (2 of 7 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 9%.
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.
Cross Island Trailhead at Macuum Creek
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
409 conserved acres
12% of Chester’s land. Water is left out: Chester has 5.2 square miles of land and 1.7 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Chester’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Other state land201 ac
County39 ac
Not recorded270 ac
Private Other or Unknown · 213 acAgricultural Easement · 201 acState Conservation Area · 41 acLocal Recreation Area · 39 acLocal Conservation Area · 14 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 101 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 6 of 10 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Space Private Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 134 | Unknown |
| Whites Heritage Private Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 79 | Unknown |
| Kent Island Research Wma State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 41 | Unknown |
| Piney Creek Park (Matson) Local Recreation Area | County | 39 | Open |
| Kirwans Creek Local Conservation Area | Not recorded | 14 | Unknown |
| Cross Island Trail Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 1 | Unknown |
| County Land Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 1 | Unknown |
| Davidson Farm Park Local Park | County | 1 | Open |
Things to do
6 places to go in Chester
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Chester
5 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Chester
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Tower Run0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
2.2 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.2 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
2Tennis
2Pickleball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Chester: 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) | 9.7 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 14.6 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 44 | 47 | 55 | 66 | 75 | 83 | 88 | 86 | 79 | 69 | 57 | 48 |
| Rain (in) | 3.1 | 2.6 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 3.7 | 3.1 | 3.7 |
February is the driest month (2.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 4.6 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Chester →
Next door
Chester 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chester | 12% | 0.2 | 9 | 47% | B− |
| Kent Narrows | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Stevensville | 11% | 0.3 | 26 | 56% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Chester
How much of Chester is conserved land?
12% 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 Chester’s trails?
Kent Island Research Wildlife Management Area and Cross Island Trailhead at Macuum Creek don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Chester?
2.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.2 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Chester?
4,763 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Chester or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 41 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Chester have?
Ahead of 50% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #195 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 Chester 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 →