Plaistow Town Forest
Managed by Plaistow Conservation Commission
419 acres9.7 mi of trail
Skunk SkullYellowRedCarlton Path+1
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Wesman83 · CC BY-SA 3.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Plaistow
Plaistow has 15 miles of mapped trails, 1.4 for every square mile of land
12% of Plaistow’s land is conserved, about 819 acres. The biggest trail networks: Plaistow Town Forest (9.7 mi). 58 acres are parks and preserves, 7.3 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 68% of U.S. towns · #105 of 126 in New Hampshire. What drives it
Conserved land
12%
819 acres · of 10.6 sq mi of land
Trails
15 mi
1.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
58 ac
7.3 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
48%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.1 mi
2.1 mi paths
Highest peak
279 ft
Sweet Hill
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Plaistow?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Plaistow have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Plaistow is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #105 of 126 in New Hampshire. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Plaistow’s overall grade.
Conserved land12% of the land · typical NH town 19% · U.S. 4%A−Trails1.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (15 mi) · NH 1.2 · U.S. 0.4APark land7.3 acres of park per 1,000 residents (58 acres) · NH 44 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home48% 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 68%
LessMore
New Hampshire towns of 2,500+ (126)Ahead of 17%
New Hampshire towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 19%; the U.S., 4%), so Plaistow’s 12% is ahead of 23% of New Hampshire towns, while its trails per square mile lead 62% 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 Plaistow Town Forest, with 9.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Plaistow Athletic Recreation Complex
Park
28 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Smith Field
Park
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 6 parks & preserves
Plaistow Town Forest419 acres · 9.7 mi of trail · Plaistow Conservation Commission
Plaistow Athletic Recreation Complex28 acres
Plaistow Town Green2 acres
DirectionsSmith Field2 acres
Valley Lane Town Forest1 acres · Town of Kingston
Hampstead Town Conservation Land1 acres · Hampstead Conservation Commission
Who protects it
819 conserved acres
12% of Plaistow’s land. Who manages Plaistow’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits480 ac
Town or city124 ac
State natural resources82 ac
Regional agency20 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)10 ac
Not recorded404 ac
Conservation Easement · 498 acLocal Other or Unknown · 452 acPrivate Conservation · 95 acUnknown Easement · 31 acLocal Resource Management Area · 23 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 238 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 39 of 44 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turner Land Local Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 82 | Unknown |
| Mt. Misery Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 69 | Unknown |
| Town of Plaistow Land Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 58 | Unknown |
| Frog Pond Woods Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 53 | Unknown |
| Greenfield Hill Open Space Private Conservation | Town or city | 41 | Unknown |
| Stonebridge Village Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 38 | Unknown |
| Deer Hollow Road Open Space Private Conservation | Town or city | 31 | Unknown |
| Parcel at 266 Main Street Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 31 | Unknown |
| Old County Road Backland Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 29 | Unknown |
| Parcel at 280 Main Street Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 29 | Unknown |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
2 places to go in Plaistow
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Plaistow
PARC PlaygroundIn Plaistow Athletic Recreation Complex
DirectionsPeaks in Plaistow
Sweet Hill279 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
7 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 3.2 miUnpaved · 1.3 mi
Skunk Skull4.4 mi
Yellow1.6 mi
Red0.9 mi
Carlton Path0.9 mi
White0.6 mi
Purple0.5 mi
Blue0.3 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
2.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.1 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
9Baseball
4Tennis
4Beach volleyball
2Softball
1Field hockey
1Soccer
1Football
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.
Plaistow CarhouseBuilding · listed 1980
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Plaistow: 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) | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 34 | 37 | 45 | 58 | 69 | 77 | 83 | 81 | 74 | 62 | 50 | 40 |
| Rain (in) | 3.3 | 3.2 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 3.8 | 4.3 |
February is the driest month (3.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.7 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Plaistow →
Next door
Plaistow and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Plaistow
Where can I hike in Plaistow?
The longest trail networks: Plaistow Town Forest, 9.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Plaistow is conserved land?
12% 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 Plaistow’s trails?
Plaistow Town Forest and Plaistow Athletic Recreation Complex don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Plaistow?
2.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.1 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Plaistow?
21,889 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Plaistow or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 461 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Plaistow have?
Ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #105 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 Plaistow 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 →