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Delaware River BristolPhoto: Smallbones · Public domain
AOutdoors
Outdoors in Bristol

15% of Bristol’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. 15% of Bristol’s land is conserved, about 166 acres. 0.9 miles of mapped trail cross Bristol, 0.5 per square mile of land.

Ahead of 87% of U.S. towns · #181 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. What drives it

Conserved land
15%
166 acres · of 1.7 sq mi of land
Trails
0.9 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
132 ac
13 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
4.2 mi
4.2 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
1 beach · 1 boat launch

What kind of outdoors town is Bristol?

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

Land that stays wild15% of the land is conserved; a typical Pennsylvania town, 8%.Parks close to homeVirtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park.History along the way9 places on the National Register.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Bristol have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Bristol is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns, #181 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. 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 Bristol’s overall grade.
Conserved land15% of the land · typical PA town 8% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · PA 0.4 · U.S. 0.4BPark land13 acres of park per 1,000 residents (132 acres) · PA 14 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · PA 73% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 87%
LessMore
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,037)Ahead of 83%

Pennsylvania towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 8%; the U.S., 4%), so Bristol’s 15% is ahead of 70% of Pennsylvania towns, while its trails per square mile lead 58% of them.

Water is 13% of Bristol’s area (0 of 2 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 13%.

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.

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 Silver Lake Park, with 0.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Silver Lake Park

Managed by Bucks County Department of Parks and Recreation
26 acres0.1 mi of trail
Silver Lake Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailheadWebsite ↗

Delaware Canal State Park: Bristol Lagoon

Park
14 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailheadWebsite ↗

Bristol Waterfront Park

Park
6 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Bristol Lion's Park

Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it

166 conserved acres

15% of Bristol’s land. Water is left out: Bristol has 1.7 square miles of land and 0.3 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Bristol’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Other or Unknown Local Government104 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits90 ac
County22 ac
State parks14 ac
Private owners11 ac
Not recorded50 ac
Conservation Easement · 109 acLocal Park · 79 acLocal Conservation Area · 37 acLocal Recreation Area · 22 acLocal Other or Unknown · 20 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 16 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 4 of 31 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Silver Lake County Park
Local Park
Other or Unknown Local Government29Open
Marsh Nature Preserve
Local Conservation Area
County22Open
Bristol Spurline Park
Local Park
Not recorded20Open
Bristol Marsh
Local Park
Not recorded17Open
Delaware Canal State Park
State Park
State parks14Open
Delaware Canal Nature Preserve
Local Conservation Area
Other or Unknown Local Government14Open
Buckingham Township Land
Local Other or Unknown
Not recorded13Open
Memorial Park
Local Park
Other or Unknown Local Government11Open
Jefferson Avenue Playground
Local Park
Not recorded8Open
Spurline Park
Local Park
Not recorded8Open

5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.

Things to do

8 places to go in Bristol

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

Playgrounds in Bristol

3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.

Trails & water

1 named trail and 2 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Silver Lake Trail0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Bristol LagoonMill Creek
Biking & sports

4.2 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

4.2 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
5Baseball
1Basketball

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

History along the way

9 places on the National Register, one a National Historic Landmark

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 7 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.

History →
★
Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania CanalNational Historic Landmark · District · listed 1974
About it
Jefferson Avenue SchoolBuilding · listed 1985
About it
Grundy Mill ComplexBuilding · listed 1986
About it
Dorrance MansionBuilding · listed 1986
About it
Bristol Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1987
About it
Harriman Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1987
About it
Jefferson Land Association Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1987
About it
Bristol Industrial Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1987
About it
Bristol Railroad StationBuilding · listed 2025
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in Bristol: April to June and August

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)9.610.611.813.214.415.014.713.712.411.19.99.3
High (°F)424553657483878579675646
Rain (in)3.42.84.13.73.84.34.94.44.13.93.24.2

February is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 4.9 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Bristol →

Next door

Bristol and its neighbors

Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Bristol Township10 miBurlington3.6 miBurlington Township2.6 miBristol0.9 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Bristol15%0.51399%+A
Bristol Township12%0.72098%A

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

Questions about parks and trails in Bristol

Where can I hike in Bristol?

The longest trail networks: Silver Lake Park, 0.1 miles; Delaware Canal State Park: Bristol Lagoon, 0.2 miles; Bristol Waterfront Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Bristol is conserved land?

15% of its land, against a typical 8% for a Pennsylvania town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.

Are dogs allowed on Bristol’s trails?

Silver Lake Park and Delaware Canal State Park: Bristol Lagoon don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Bristol?

4.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 4.2 of off-road paths.

Is there public land near Bristol?

22,718 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Bristol or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 132 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Bristol have?

Ahead of 87% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #181 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania. 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 Bristol 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 →