Spring Hill Farm
Nature preserve
144 acres2.4 mi of trail
spring hill trailloop 1loop 2
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Chester
18% of Chester’s land is conserved: 3,074 acres
34 miles of mapped trail cross Chester, 1.3 per square mile of land. 329 acres are parks and preserves, 62 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Spring Hill Farm (2.4 mi), Wason Pond Conservation & Recreation Area (0.7 mi).
Ahead of 83% of U.S. towns · #59 of 126 in New Hampshire. What drives it
Conserved land
18%
3,074 acres · of 26.0 sq mi of land
Trails
34 mi
1.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
329 ac
62 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
32%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
591 ft
Bell Hill
Lakes & rivers
6
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 83% of U.S. towns, #59 of 126 in New Hampshire. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Chester’s overall grade.
Conserved land18% of the land · typical NH town 19% · U.S. 4%ATrails1.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (34 mi) · NH 1.2 · U.S. 0.4APark land62 acres of park per 1,000 residents (329 acres) · NH 44 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home32% of residents within a half mile of a park · NH 40% · U.S. 72%C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 83%
LessMore
New Hampshire towns of 2,500+ (126)Ahead of 54%
New Hampshire towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 19%; the U.S., 4%), so Chester’s 18% is ahead of 49% of New Hampshire towns, while its trails per square mile lead 54% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ 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.
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 Spring Hill Farm, with 2.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Wason Pond Conservation & Recreation Area
Managed by Town of Chester
99 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Forsaith Forest
Managed by Town of Chester
65 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Manchester Waterworks
Managed by City of Manchester
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
3,074 conserved acres
18% of Chester’s land. Who manages Chester’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city2,001 ac
Regional agency981 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)34 ac
Not recorded1,445 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 1,443 acConservation Easement · 1,204 acUnknown Easement · 1,165 acPrivate Conservation · 387 acWatershed Protection Area · 150 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,016 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 45 of 102 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Town of Chester Land Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 486 | Unknown |
| Bridle Path Parcels Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 200 | Unknown |
| Villages at Chester Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 176 | Closed |
| Manchester Water Works Land Watershed Protection Area | Not recorded | 150 | Unknown |
| Jenkins Farm Open Space Private Conservation | Town or city | 121 | Open |
| Muriel Church #3 Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 101 | Unknown |
| Hatton Property Private Conservation | Town or city | 91 | Open |
| Pinkerton Academy Forestry Lot Research or Educational Area | Not recorded | 78 | Unknown |
| Davis Property Private Conservation | Town or city | 62 | Closed |
| Buelte Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 59 | Unknown |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
6 places to go in Chester
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Chester
Bell Hill591 ft elevation
DirectionsWalnut Hill545 ft elevation
DirectionsKing Hill433 ft elevation
DirectionsGreat Hill427 ft elevation
DirectionsWilson Hill420 ft elevation
DirectionsMardens Hill410 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
7 named trails and 6 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 4.0 miHorses · 3.6 miUnpaved · 19.9 mi
spring hill trail1.4 mi
Bridle Path1.4 mi
Old Chester Turnpike1.0 mi
ditch access0.6 mi
loop 10.5 mi
loop 20.4 mi
pomp rd connector0.1 mi
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
3Tennis
3Baseball
1Basketball
1Skate park
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 4 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Chester: 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) | 9.3 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.7 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 33 | 36 | 44 | 57 | 68 | 77 | 82 | 81 | 73 | 61 | 49 | 38 |
| Rain (in) | 3.2 | 3.1 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 4.7 | 3.9 | 4.2 |
February is the driest month (3.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.7 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Chester →
Next door
Chester and its neighbors
Chester has the second most mapped trails of the 6 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Chester
Where can I hike in Chester?
The longest trail networks: Spring Hill Farm, 2.4 miles; Wason Pond Conservation & Recreation Area, 0.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Chester is conserved land?
18% 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 Chester’s trails?
Spring Hill Farm and Wason Pond Conservation & Recreation Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Chester?
24,198 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Chester or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 421 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Chester have?
Ahead of 83% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #59 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 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 →