Bush Declaration Natural Resource Management Area
Managed by Maryland Park Service
99 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Sophia's Dairy · Photo: E.H. Pickering, HABS photographer · Public domainB−Outdoors
Outdoors in Riverside
9% of Riverside’s land is conserved: 149 acres
1.6 miles of mapped trail cross Riverside, 0.6 per square mile of land. 13 acres are parks and preserves, 2.0 per 1,000 residents. 39% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 46% of U.S. towns · #206 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
Conserved land
9%
149 acres · of 2.6 sq mi of land
Trails
1.6 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
13 ac
2.0 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
39%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
3
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Riverside have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Riverside is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns, #206 of 261 in Maryland. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Riverside’s overall grade.
Conserved land9% of the land · typical MD town 9% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · MD 0.5 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land2.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (13 acres) · MD 9 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home39% 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 46%
LessMore
Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 21%
Maryland towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 9%; the U.S., 4%), so Riverside’s 9% is ahead of 49% of Maryland towns, while its trails per square mile lead 55% 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.
Belcamp Park
Park
9 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Belcamp Dog Park
Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
149 conserved acres
9% of Riverside’s land. Who manages Riverside’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources127 ac
County127 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government34 ac
State parks1 ac
Conservation Easement · 218 acForest Stewardship Easement · 59 acLocal Park · 11 acUnknown Easement · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 139 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 12 of 23 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belcamp Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 11 | Open |
Things to do
25 places to go in Riverside
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Riverside
23 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Riverside
Bark Park
DirectionsPlus 1 dog park without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
3 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & 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
4Tennis
3Baseball
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). The map also marks 2 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Sophia's DairyBuilding · listed 1973
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Riverside: 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 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 42 | 45 | 53 | 65 | 74 | 83 | 88 | 86 | 79 | 68 | 56 | 47 |
| Rain (in) | 3.2 | 2.7 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 4.6 | 4.3 | 4.6 | 3.8 | 3.3 | 3.9 |
February is the driest month (2.7 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 Riverside →
Next door
Riverside and its neighbors
Riverside has the second most mapped trails of the 3 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Riverside
How much of Riverside is conserved land?
9% 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 Riverside’s trails?
Bush Declaration Natural Resource Management Area and Belcamp Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Riverside?
11,420 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Riverside or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 13 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Riverside have?
Ahead of 46% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #206 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 Riverside 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 →