Thurston Park
Park
380 acres4.6 mi of trail
Trail #2Rufus Jones TrailPartridge TrailMoose Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Abel Jones House · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0C+Outdoors
Outdoors in China
China has 382 acres of parks, 84 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Thurston Park (4.6 mi), China Community Forest (1.8 mi). 2% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 16 miles of mapped trail cross China, 0.3 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 38% of U.S. towns · #110 of 143 in Maine. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
258 acres · of 49.9 sq mi of land
Trails
16 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
382 ac
84 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
2%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
512 ft
Deer Hill
Lakes & rivers
3
2 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is China?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does China have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, China is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #110 of 143 in Maine. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of China’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical ME town 6% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (16 mi) · ME 0.7 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land84 acres of park per 1,000 residents (382 acres) · ME 15 · U.S. 13AParks close to home2% of residents within a half mile of a park · ME 30% · U.S. 72%D
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 38%
LessMore
Maine towns of 2,500+ (143)Ahead of 23%
Water is 12% of China’s area (7 of 57 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 1%.
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
The longest trail network is Thurston Park, with 4.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
China Community Forest
Nature preserve
66 acres1.8 mi of trail
China Schools Forest Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Alonzo H. Garcelon Wildlife Management Area North
Managed by Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
117 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
258 conserved acres
1% of China’s land. Water is left out: China has 49.9 square miles of land and 7.0 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages China’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits277 ac
State fish & wildlife119 ac
Agricultural Easement · 277 acState Conservation Area · 119 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 138 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 3 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alonzo H. Garcelon Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 119 | Restricted |
Things to do
6 places to go in China
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in China
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in China
China Village Boat Launch
DirectionsPlus 1 boat launch without a name on the map.
Peaks in China
Deer Hill512 ft elevation
DirectionsPicnic areas in China
1 picnic area without a name on the map.
Campgrounds in China
1 campground without a name on the map.
Trails & water
12 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.7 mi
Snowmobile7.5 mi
China Schools Forest Trail1.4 mi
Trail #21.3 mi
Rufus Jones Trail0.7 mi
Partridge Trail0.5 mi
Moose Trail0.4 mi
Trail #10.4 mi
Deer Trail0.3 mi
Esker Trail0.2 mi
Monument Trail0.2 mi
2 more trails
Snowmobile Trail
0.2 miHummingbird Hill
0.1 miLakes & 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
3Baseball
2Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →6 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
China Village Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1977
About itAbel Jones HouseBuilding · listed 1983
About itPendle HillBuilding · listed 1983
About itPond Meeting HouseBuilding · listed 1983
About itSouth China Meeting HouseBuilding · listed 1983
About itEli and Sybil Jones HouseBuilding · listed 1984
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in China: May 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) | 9.2 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 28 | 32 | 40 | 53 | 65 | 73 | 79 | 78 | 70 | 57 | 45 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 3.5 | 3.0 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 4.2 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 4.0 | 5.1 | 4.4 | 4.4 |
February is the driest month (3.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 79 °F). 5.1 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in China →
Next door
China 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | 1% | 0.3 | 84 | 2% | C+ |
| Vassalboro | 4% | 0.8 | 13 | 8% | B− |
| Palermo | 1% | 0.1 | 10 | 14% | C− |
| Winslow | 1% | 1.1 | 5 | 59% | C+ |
| Albion | 4% | 0.3 | 3 | 6% | C |
| Windsor | 9% | 0.1 | 25 | 2% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in China
Where can I hike in China?
The longest trail networks: Thurston Park, 4.6 miles; China Community Forest, 1.8 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of China is conserved land?
1% of its land, against a typical 6% for a Maine town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on China’s trails?
Thurston Park and China Community Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near China?
1,961 acres of parks and open public land lie inside China or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 382 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does China have?
Ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #110 of 143 in Maine. 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 China 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 →