Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Jamestown

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Jamestown WindmillPhoto: Swampyank at English Wikipedia · CC BY 3.0
AOutdoors
Outdoors in Jamestown

32% of Jamestown’s land is conserved: 1,903 acres

11 miles of mapped trail cross Jamestown, 1.2 per square mile of land. 397 acres are parks and preserves, 72 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Fort Wetherill State Park (1.3 mi), Conanicut Battery National Historic Park (0.6 mi).

Ahead of 93% of U.S. towns · #8 of 38 in Rhode Island. What drives it

Conserved land
32%
1,903 acres · of 9.4 sq mi of land
Trails
11 mi
1.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
397 ac
72 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
69%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.6 mi
1.6 mi paths
Highest peak
95 ft
Windmill Hill
Lakes & rivers
3
22 beaches · 5 boat launches

What kind of outdoors town is Jamestown?

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

Land that stays wild32% of the land is conserved; a typical Rhode Island town, 19%.A trail town1.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 84% of U.S. towns.A beach town3 named beaches on the map.History along the way11 places on the National Register.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Jamestown have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Jamestown is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns, #8 of 38 in Rhode Island. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.

A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Jamestown’s overall grade.
Conserved land32% of the land · typical RI town 19% · U.S. 4%ATrails1.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (11 mi) · RI 1.1 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land72 acres of park per 1,000 residents (397 acres) · RI 21 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home69% of residents within a half mile of a park · RI 72% · U.S. 72%B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 93%
LessMore
Rhode Island towns of 2,500+ (38)Ahead of 81%

Rhode Island towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 19%; the U.S., 4%), so Jamestown’s 32% is ahead of 78% of Rhode Island towns, while its trails per square mile lead 51% of them.

Water is more than half of Jamestown’s area (26 of 35 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 8%.

How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A 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 Fort Wetherill State Park, with 1.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Fort Wetherill State Park

Park
62 acres1.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗

Conanicut Battery National Historic Park

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

Dutch Island

Nature preserve
87 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Fort Getty Park

Park
37 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 6 parks & preserves
Fort Wetherill State Park62 acres · 1.3 mi of trail
Directions
Conanicut Battery National Historic Park21 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
Directions
Dutch Island87 acres
Fort Getty Park37 acres
Marsh Meadows Wildlife Preserve22 acres
Racquet Road Wildlife Refuge19 acres · Audubon Society of Rhode Island
Who protects it

1,903 conserved acres

32% of Jamestown’s land. Water is left out: Jamestown has 9.4 square miles of land and 25.9 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Jamestown’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Land trusts & nonprofits623 ac
State conservation395 ac
State natural resources173 ac
Town or city133 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)118 ac
Other state land84 ac
Joint29 ac
Conservation Easement · 790 acPrivate Conservation · 414 acUnknown Easement · 321 acState Park · 251 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 233 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 421 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 118 of 163 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Beavertail
State Park
Not recorded186Unknown
Bay Islands
State Resource Management Area
Not recorded136Unknown
Jamestown Brook - Jamestown Country Club
Private Other or Unknown
Not recorded104Closed
Windmill Hill
Private Other or Unknown
Land trusts & nonprofits98Unknown
435 Beavertail Road
Private Conservation
Not recorded88Unknown
North Main Road
Private Conservation
Not recorded85Unknown
Hodgkiss Farm
State Resource Management Area
Not recorded67Unknown
Jamestown
State Park
State natural resources66Open
East Shore Road
Watershed Protection Area
Not recorded64Unknown
North Pond
Watershed Protection Area
Not recorded61Unknown

5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.

Things to do

32 places to go in Jamestown

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

Beaches in Jamestown
Mackerel Cove Beach
Directions
Old Salt Work Beach
Directions
Sunset Beach
Directions

Plus 19 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.

Trails & water

5 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Meadow Trail0.4 mi
Conanicut Connector0.3 mi
Cedar Loop0.3 mi
Center Parker Loop0.2 mi
South Loop0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Fox Hill PondGreat CreekJamestown Reservoirreservoir
Biking & sports

1.6 miles of bike routes

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

1.6 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
24Tennis
3Basketball
2Baseball
1Skate park

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

History along the way

11 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 13 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.

History →
Artillery ParkSite · listed 1973
About it
Friends MeetinghouseBuilding · listed 1973
About it
Portsmouth Friends Meetinghouse Parsonage and CemeteryBuilding · listed 1973
About it
Jamestown WindmillBuilding · listed 1973
About it
Conanicut BatterySite · listed 1973
About it
Beavertail LightBuilding · listed 1977
About it
Windmill Hill Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1978
About it
Conanicut Island LighthouseStructure · listed 1988
About it
Dutch Island LighthouseStructure · listed 1988
About it
Horsehead-MarbellaDistrict · listed 1999
About it
Shoreby Hill Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2011
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in Jamestown: 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.510.511.813.314.515.214.913.812.411.09.89.2
High (°F)394047566675818074635344
Rain (in)3.83.44.94.33.43.63.13.73.94.54.04.6

July is the driest month (3.1 in) and the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 4.9 inches fall in March, the wettest month. The climate in Jamestown →

Next door

Jamestown and its neighbors

Tap a town to see its outdoors.

North Kingstown61 miPortsmouth34 miMiddletown20 miNewport16 miNarragansett13 miJamestown11 miMelville2.7 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Jamestown32%1.27269%A
Newport11%2.12096%A
North Kingstown24%1.44468%A
Narragansett19%1.04091%A
Portsmouth35%1.51664%A
Melville— not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Middletown19%1.6984%A−

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

Questions about parks and trails in Jamestown

Where can I hike in Jamestown?

The longest trail networks: Fort Wetherill State Park, 1.3 miles; Conanicut Battery National Historic Park, 0.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Jamestown is conserved land?

32% 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 Jamestown’s trails?

Fort Wetherill State Park and Conanicut Battery National Historic Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Jamestown?

1.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.6 of off-road paths.

Is there public land near Jamestown?

8,107 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Jamestown or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 401 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Jamestown have?

Ahead of 93% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #8 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 Jamestown 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 →