George B. Parker Woodland Wildlife Refuge
Managed by National Audubon Society of Rhode Island
326 acres3.2 mi of trail
Milton A. Gowdy Mem. Trail (Red)Yellow TrailPaul Cook Mem. Trail (Blue)
Dogs usually not allowed
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Photo: Pi.1415926535 · CC BY-SA 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Foster
14% of Foster’s land is conserved: 4,485 acres
The biggest trail networks: George B. Parker Woodland Wildlife Refuge (3.2 mi). 114 acres are parks and preserves, 25 per 1,000 residents. 21% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 58% of U.S. towns · #34 of 38 in Rhode Island. What drives it
Conserved land
14%
4,485 acres · of 50.8 sq mi of land
Trails
14 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
114 ac
25 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
21%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
840 ft
Jerimoth Hill
Lakes & rivers
7
2 beaches
What kind of outdoors town is Foster?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Foster have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Foster is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns, #34 of 38 in Rhode Island. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Foster’s overall grade.
Conserved land14% of the land · typical RI town 19% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (14 mi) · RI 1.1 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land25 acres of park per 1,000 residents (114 acres) · RI 21 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home21% of residents within a half mile of a park · RI 72% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 58%
LessMore
Rhode Island towns of 2,500+ (38)Ahead of 11%
Rhode Island towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 19%; the U.S., 4%), so Foster’s 14% is ahead of 41% of Rhode Island towns, while its trails per square mile lead 11% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. 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 George B. Parker Woodland Wildlife Refuge, with 3.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Thoman Land and Nature Preserve
Managed by Audobon Society of Rhode Island
32 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
4,485 conserved acres
14% of Foster’s land. Who manages Foster’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation1,337 ac
State natural resources692 ac
Regional Water Districts343 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits335 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)237 ac
Private owners114 ac
Other or Unknown Federal Land8 ac
Watershed Protection Area · 1,687 acConservation Easement · 1,623 acPrivate Conservation · 1,084 acAgricultural Easement · 453 acState Resource Management Area · 325 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 683 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 68 of 91 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Westconnaug Reservoir Watershed Protection Area | Not recorded | 492 | Unknown |
| Barden Reservoir Watershed Protection Area | Not recorded | 444 | Unknown |
| Moosup River State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 427 | Unknown |
| George B Parker Woodland Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 289 | Closed |
| Westconnaug Brook Watershed Protection Area | Not recorded | 218 | Unknown |
| Ramtail Road Watershed Protection Area | Not recorded | 197 | Unknown |
| Spencer Private Conservation | Not recorded | 161 | Unknown |
| Hemlock Brook Watershed Protection Area | Not recorded | 153 | Unknown |
| Ponagansett River Corridor State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 148 | Unknown |
| Cardi Swamp Wildlife Refuge Private Conservation | Not recorded | 148 | Unknown |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
15 places to go in Foster
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Foster
2 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Playgrounds in Foster
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Foster
Jerimoth Hill840 ft elevation · In Jerimoth Hill
DirectionsMount Hygeia735 ft elevation
DirectionsHoward Hill686 ft elevation
DirectionsBennett Hill646 ft elevation
DirectionsCucumber Hill640 ft elevation
DirectionsCranberry Hill620 ft elevation
DirectionsOak Hill617 ft elevation
DirectionsBig Hill597 ft elevation
Directions3 more peaks
Biscuit Hill591 ft elevation
DirectionsWitch Hill564 ft elevation
DirectionsBarbs Hill554 ft elevation
DirectionsCampgrounds in Foster
Dyer Woods Nudist Campgrounds
DirectionsTrails & water
15 named trails and 7 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 3.7 mi
Milton A. Gowdy Mem. Trail (Red)2.3 mi
North South Trail1.6 mi
Ponaganset River Trail (Yellow)1.0 mi
Yellow Trail1.0 mi
North South Trail (Alternative)0.8 mi
Cardinal Trail (Red)0.5 mi
Margery's Trail (Red)0.5 mi
Bolder Field Traail (Orange)0.4 mi
Pot Luck Trail (Blue)0.4 mi
Red Trail0.4 mi
5 more trails
Margery's Trail East (Red)
0.3 miGoldmine road (trail)
0.2 miPot Luck Trail
0.1 miPaul Cook Mem. Trail (Blue)
0.1 miJenny's Shortcut (Blue)
0.1 miLakes & 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
1Baseball
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). The map also marks 7 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Capt. George Dorrance HouseBuilding · listed 1972
About itMount Vernon TavernBuilding · listed 1974
About itFoster Center Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1974
About itMt. HygeiaBuilding · listed 1977
About itHopkins Mill Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1984
About itMoosup Valley Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1988
About itBorders FarmDistrict · listed 2009
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Foster: 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) | 9.5 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 36 | 39 | 46 | 58 | 68 | 76 | 81 | 80 | 73 | 62 | 51 | 41 |
| Rain (in) | 4.2 | 3.5 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.9 | 4.3 | 4.9 |
February is the driest month (3.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 4.9 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Foster →
Next door
Foster and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Foster
Where can I hike in Foster?
The longest trail networks: George B. Parker Woodland Wildlife Refuge, 3.2 miles; Jerimoth Hill, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Foster is conserved land?
14% of its land, against a typical 19% for a Rhode Island town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Foster’s trails?
George B. Parker Woodland Wildlife Refuge and Thoman Land and Nature Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Foster?
8,948 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Foster or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 281 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Foster have?
Ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #34 of 38 in Rhode Island. 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 Foster 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 →