McVickers Brook Preserve
Managed by Mendham Borough, Schiff Natural Lands Trust
94 acres1.8 mi of trail
Franklin Parker Trail (white/black)unblazedorange
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Mendham
Mendham has 272 acres of parks, 55 for every 1,000 residents
5.9 miles of mapped trail cross Mendham, 1.0 per square mile of land. 93% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 10% of Mendham’s land is conserved, about 381 acres.
Ahead of 92% of U.S. towns · #160 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
Conserved land
10%
381 acres · of 5.9 sq mi of land
Trails
5.9 mi
1.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
272 ac
55 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
93%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Mendham?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Mendham have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Mendham is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns, #160 of 468 in New Jersey. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; park acres per resident rank highest, conserved land lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Mendham’s overall grade.
Conserved land10% of the land · typical NJ town 11% · U.S. 4%A−Trails1.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (6 mi) · NJ 0.7 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land55 acres of park per 1,000 residents (272 acres) · NJ 25 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home93% of residents within a half mile of a park · NJ 98% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 92%
LessMore
New Jersey towns of 2,500+ (468)Ahead of 66%
New Jersey towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 11%; the U.S., 4%), so Mendham’s 10% is ahead of 47% of New Jersey towns, while its trails per square mile lead 64% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would still be 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 McVickers Brook Preserve, with 1.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Schiff Nature Preserve
Managed by Schiff Natural Lands Trust
41 acres0.7 mi of trail
Franklin Parker Trail (white/black)orange
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
India Brook Natural Area
Managed by Mendham Township
26 acres0.3 mi of trail
Patriots' Path Connector Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
381 conserved acres
10% of Mendham’s land. Who manages Mendham’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city306 ac
County228 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits78 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government42 ac
Not recorded13 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 193 acRecreation or Education Easement · 187 acLocal Park · 95 acAgricultural Easement · 84 acConservation Easement · 54 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 102 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 32 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mendham Borough Unknown Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 148 | Open |
| Aboretun Park Local Park | Town or city | 46 | Open |
| Moutain Valley Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 32 | Open |
| India Brook Park Local Park | Town or city | 26 | Open |
| Borough Park Local Park | Town or city | 14 | Open |
| unknown Private Conservation | Not recorded | 13 | Open |
| Mendham Borough Athletic Facility Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 11 | Open |
| Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Deerfield Park Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 7 | Open |
| Patriots Path Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 5 | Open |
2 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
1 places to go in Mendham
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Mendham
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
5 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 2.7 miUnpaved · 3.5 mi
Patriots' Path2.4 mi
Franklin Parker Trail (white/black)1.5 mi
Patriots' Path Connector Trail0.4 mi
unblazed0.2 mi
orange0.2 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
7Tennis
4Baseball
3Soccer
3Tracks
1Basketball
1Football
1Softball
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).
When to get out
The best walking months in Mendham: 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) | 9.6 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.4 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 38 | 41 | 49 | 61 | 71 | 80 | 84 | 83 | 76 | 64 | 53 | 42 |
| Rain (in) | 3.8 | 3.0 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 3.6 | 4.6 |
February is the driest month (3.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.9 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Mendham →
Next door
Mendham and its neighbors
Mendham has the second most mapped trails of the 3 towns around it. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mendham | 10% | 1.0 | 55 | 93% | A |
| Mendham Township | 28% | 2.3 | 404 | 94% | A+ |
| Brookside | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Mendham
Where can I hike in Mendham?
The longest trail networks: McVickers Brook Preserve, 1.8 miles; Schiff Nature Preserve, 0.7 miles; India Brook Natural Area, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Mendham is conserved land?
10% 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 Mendham’s trails?
McVickers Brook Preserve and Schiff Nature Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Mendham?
41,829 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Mendham or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 298 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Mendham have?
Ahead of 92% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #160 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 Mendham 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 →