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Berlin NH 10-25-25aPhoto: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY 4.0
A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Berlin

More than half of Berlin’s land is conserved: 62%

62% of Berlin’s land is conserved, about 24,481 acres. 7,733 acres are parks and preserves, 824 per 1,000 residents. 63 miles of mapped trail cross Berlin, 1.0 per square mile of land.

Ahead of 96% of U.S. towns · #5 of 126 in New Hampshire. What drives it

Conserved land
62%
24,481 acres · of 61.3 sq mi of land
Trails
63 mi
1.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
7,733 ac
824 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
77%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
3,888 ft
Mount Weeks
Lakes & rivers
13
1 beach · 2 boat launches

What kind of outdoors town is Berlin?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Land that stays wild62% of the land is conserved; a typical New Hampshire town, 19%.Room to roam824 acres of park per 1,000 residents; the typical U.S. town has 13.A trail town1.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 81% of U.S. towns.History along the way6 places on the National Register.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Berlin have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Berlin is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns, #5 of 126 in New Hampshire. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.

A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Berlin’s overall grade.
Conserved land62% of the land · typical NH town 19% · U.S. 4%A+Trails1.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (63 mi) · NH 1.2 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land824 acres of park per 1,000 residents (7,733 acres) · NH 44 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home77% of residents within a half mile of a park · NH 40% · U.S. 72%B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 96%
LessMore
New Hampshire towns of 2,500+ (126)Ahead of 97%

New Hampshire towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 19%; the U.S., 4%), so Berlin’s 62% is ahead of 99% of New Hampshire towns, while its trails per square mile lead 31% of them.

How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. 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.

1234
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 Jericho Mountain State Park, with 29.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Jericho Mountain State Park

Managed by City of Berlin
7,747 acres29.8 mi of trail
Camp Loop RdBeaver Pond TrailSmitty's TrailOverlook Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗

Cascade Hill Forest

Managed by Society for the Protection of NH Forests
687 acres2.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Twitchell Environmental Study Area

Managed by NH Technical College
303 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Horne Brook Wildlife Management Area

Managed by NH Fish & Game
103 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 8 parks & preserves
Jericho Mountain State Park7,747 acres · 29.8 mi of trail · City of Berlin
Directions
Cascade Hill Forest687 acres · 2.1 mi of trail · Society for the Protection of NH Forests
Northern Forest Heritage Park3 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Twitchell Environmental Study Area303 acres · NH Technical College
Horne Brook Wildlife Management Area103 acres · NH Fish & Game
Hutchins Street Park2 acres · City of Berlin
Directions
Veteran's Memorial Park1 acres · City of Berlin
Directions
Gilbert Street Field1 acres
Directions
Who protects it

24,481 conserved acres

62% of Berlin’s land. Who manages Berlin’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

U.S. Forest Service16,158 ac
County271 ac
Town or city120 ac
State natural resources28 ac
Other state land27 ac
Private owners6 ac
Not recorded8,082 ac
National Forest · 16,158 acState Park · 7,651 acResearch or Educational Area · 305 acConservation Easement · 237 acUnknown Easement · 182 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 210 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 11 of 17 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
White Mountain National Forest
National Forest
U.S. Forest Service16,158Open
Jericho Mountain State Park
State Park
Not recorded7,651Unknown
Twitchell Environmental Study Area
Research or Educational Area
Not recorded305Unknown
Horne Brook Wildlife Management Area
State Conservation Area
Not recorded103Unknown
Berlin Water Works Land
Watershed Protection Area
Not recorded21Unknown
Unknown Park
Local Park
Town or city19Open
Memorial Field
Local Recreation Area
Town or city9Open
Tinker Brook
Private Conservation
Private owners6Unknown
Berlin Water Works
Watershed Protection Area
Not recorded2Unknown
Things to do

12 places to go in Berlin

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Peaks in Berlin
Mount Weeks3,888 ft elevation
Directions
Middle Weeks Mountain3,701 ft elevation
Directions
Jericho Mountain2,454 ft elevation
Directions
Cates Hill2,064 ft elevation
Directions
Mount Forest2,031 ft elevation
Directions
Mount Carberry1,709 ft elevation
Directions
Mount Jasper1,473 ft elevation
Directions
Trails & water

15 named trails and 13 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Unpaved · 13.7 mi
Killkenny Ridge Trail2.7 mi
Upper Ammonoosuc Trail2.6 mi
York Pond Trail2.3 mi
Landing Camp Trail1.7 mi
Camp Loop Rd1.4 mi
Mill Brook Trail1.4 mi
Beaver Pond Trail1.3 mi
Smitty's Trail1.2 mi
Overlook Trail1.2 mi
Scenic View Trail1.1 mi
5 more trails
Top Loop
0.7 mi
Unknown Pond Trail
0.6 mi
Board Walk
0.6 mi
Bunnell Notch Trail
0.6 mi
Higgins Hill Trail
0.3 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Androscoggin River ReservoirreservoirBog PondCascade Brook ReservoirDiversion PondFlat PondGodfrey PondreservoirJericho LakereservoirSalmon PondYork PondAndroscoggin RiverDead RiverDead River PondUpper Ammonoosuc River
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
11Basketball
4Soccer
4Tennis
3Baseball
2Softball

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

6 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).

History →
Holy Resurrection Orthodox ChurchBuilding · listed 1979
About it
St. Anne ChurchBuilding · listed 1979
About it
Congregational ChurchBuilding · listed 1980
About it
Mt. Jasper Lithic SourceSite · listed 1992
About it
Burgess, George E., School-Notre Dame High SchoolBuilding · listed 2015
About it
Saint Anne Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2018
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in Berlin: May, August and 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.210.411.813.414.815.515.214.012.410.99.58.8
High (°F)262938516573777668554231
Rain (in)3.02.53.03.63.94.64.54.23.64.73.43.7

February is the driest month (2.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 77 °F). 4.7 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Berlin →

Next door

Berlin and its neighbors

Berlin has the second most mapped trails of the 3 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Gorham66 miBerlin63 miMilan28 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Berlin62%1.082477%A+
Milan26%0.461126%A−
Gorham47%2.142158%A+

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Berlin

Where can I hike in Berlin?

The longest trail networks: Jericho Mountain State Park, 29.8 miles; Cascade Hill Forest, 2.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Berlin is conserved land?

62% of its land, against a typical 19% for a New Hampshire town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.

Are dogs allowed on Berlin’s trails?

Jericho Mountain State Park and Cascade Hill Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Is there public land near Berlin?

124,197 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Berlin or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 21,300 of them inside the city line.

How much outdoors does Berlin have?

Ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #5 of 126 in New Hampshire. 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 Berlin neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →