Wood Dale County Park
Park
53 acres0.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: JERRYE · CC BY-SA 4.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Hillsdale
7% of Hillsdale’s land is conserved, and virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Wood Dale County Park (0.8 mi). 7% of Hillsdale’s land is conserved, about 139 acres.
Ahead of 82% of U.S. towns · #263 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
Conserved land
7%
139 acres · of 2.9 sq mi of land
Trails
1.8 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
132 ac
13 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Hillsdale?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Hillsdale have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Hillsdale is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns, #263 of 468 in New Jersey. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park ranks highest, park acres per resident lowest.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Hillsdale’s overall grade.
Conserved land7% of the land · typical NJ town 11% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · NJ 0.7 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land13 acres of park per 1,000 residents (132 acres) · NJ 25 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · NJ 98% · U.S. 72%A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 82%
LessMore
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 44%
New Jersey towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 11%; the U.S., 4%), so Hillsdale’s 7% is ahead of 37% of New Jersey towns, while its trails per square mile lead 45% 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 Wood Dale County Park, with 0.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Centennial Field
Park
10 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 5 parks & preserves
Wood Dale County Park53 acres · 0.8 mi of trail
Centennial Field10 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Beechwood Park22 acres
DirectionsVeteran's Park1 acres
DirectionsMcSpirit Memorial Park1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
139 conserved acres
7% of Hillsdale’s land. Who manages Hillsdale’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city113 ac
County74 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government3 ac
Not recorded66 ac
Local Recreation Area · 66 acLocal Park · 58 acLocal Conservation Area · 56 acLocal Other or Unknown · 54 acAgricultural Easement · 20 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 11 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wood Dale Park Local Recreation Area | County | 106 | Open |
| Hillsdale Borough Unknown Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 54 | Open |
| Ball Fields Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 26 | Open |
| Beechwood Park Local Park | Town or city | 20 | Open |
| Stony Brook Local Park | Town or city | 11 | Open |
| Memorial Field Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Hillsdale Borough Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Open Space Flood Mitigation Acquisitions Local Conservation Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 3 | Restricted |
| Veteran'S Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Hillsdale Borough Wooded Lot Local Resource Management Area | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Hillsdale
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Hillsdale
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
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
4Baseball
3Basketball
1Softball
1Football
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →8 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Blauvelt-Demarest HouseBuilding · listed 1983
About itGarret Durie HouseBuilding · listed 1983
About itJohn Banta HouseBuilding · listed 1983
About itFrederick Wortendyke HouseBuilding · listed 1983
About itWestervelt-Lydecker HouseBuilding · listed 1983
About itHillsdale StationBuilding · listed 1984
About itVanderbeek HouseBuilding · listed 1984
About itReformed Dutch Church of WyckoffBuilding · listed 2003
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Hillsdale: April 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) | 9.5 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 38 | 42 | 50 | 62 | 72 | 81 | 86 | 84 | 77 | 65 | 53 | 43 |
| Rain (in) | 3.4 | 2.8 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 3.7 | 4.2 |
February is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 4.6 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Hillsdale →
Next door
Hillsdale and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
River Vale Township7.8 miWestwood2.5 miHillsdale1.8 miPark Ridge1.2 miWoodcliff Lake1.0 miSaddle River0.5 miWashington Township0.2 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hillsdale | 7% | 0.6 | 13 | 99%+ | A− |
| Westwood | 10% | 1.1 | 12 | 99%+ | A |
| River Vale Township | 8% | 1.9 | 24 | 86% | A |
| Washington Township | under 1% | 0.1 | 5 | 97% | C |
| Woodcliff Lake | 4% | 0.3 | 16 | 90% | B+ |
| Park Ridge | 9% | 0.5 | 16 | 99%+ | A− |
| Saddle River | 2% | 0.1 | 10 | 70% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Hillsdale
Where can I hike in Hillsdale?
The longest trail networks: Wood Dale County Park, 0.8 miles; Centennial Field, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Hillsdale is conserved land?
7% of its land, against a typical 11% for a New Jersey town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Hillsdale’s trails?
Wood Dale County Park and Beechwood Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Hillsdale?
31,220 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Hillsdale or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 132 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Hillsdale have?
Ahead of 82% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #263 of 468 in New Jersey. 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 Hillsdale 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 →