Green Animals Topiary Garden
Park
7 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Portsmouth
35% of Portsmouth’s land is conserved: 5,094 acres
34 miles of mapped trail cross Portsmouth, 1.5 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Green Animals Topiary Garden (0.7 mi), Pheasant Drive Public Access Point (0.6 mi). 276 acres are parks and preserves, 16 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 86% of U.S. towns · #14 of 38 in Rhode Island. What drives it
Conserved land
35%
5,094 acres · of 23.0 sq mi of land
Trails
34 mi
1.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
276 ac
16 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
64%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.3 mi
0.4 mi paths
Highest peak
285 ft
Slate Hill
Lakes & rivers
8
54 beaches · 2 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Portsmouth?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Portsmouth have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Portsmouth is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #14 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 Portsmouth’s overall grade.
Conserved land35% of the land · typical RI town 19% · U.S. 4%A+Trails1.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (34 mi) · RI 1.1 · U.S. 0.4APark land16 acres of park per 1,000 residents (276 acres) · RI 21 · U.S. 13BParks close to home64% 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 86%
LessMore
Rhode Island towns of 2,500+ (38)Ahead of 65%
Rhode Island towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 19%; the U.S., 4%), so Portsmouth’s 35% is ahead of 89% of Rhode Island towns, while its trails per square mile lead 70% of them.
Water is more than half of Portsmouth’s area (36 of 59 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 14%.
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.
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 Green Animals Topiary Garden, with 0.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Pheasant Drive Public Access Point
Park
37 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Farnham Farm
Park
17 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 5 parks & preserves
Green Animals Topiary Garden7 acres · 0.7 mi of trail
Pheasant Drive Public Access Point37 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
DirectionsFarnham Farm17 acres
Mt. Hope Park2 acres
DirectionsFrank Carson Playground2 acres
Who protects it
5,094 conserved acres
35% of Portsmouth’s land. Water is left out: Portsmouth has 23.0 square miles of land and 36.3 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Portsmouth’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation2,857 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits2,021 ac
Joint609 ac
State natural resources301 ac
Town or city293 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)185 ac
Other state land161 ac
Conservation Easement · 4,527 acState Resource Management Area · 2,491 acUnknown Easement · 831 acAgricultural Easement · 556 acLocal Recreation Area · 285 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,565 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 82 of 159 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bay Islands State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 2,399 | Unknown |
| City of Newport Watershed Protection Area | Not recorded | 233 | Unknown |
| Prudence Island Private Conservation | Not recorded | 160 | Unknown |
| Trail Local Recreation Area | Land trusts & nonprofits | 128 | Open |
| Ballard State Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 124 | Unknown |
| Chipiquisett Private Conservation | Not recorded | 108 | Unknown |
| Glenn Farm Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 86 | Open |
| Boyds Marsh State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 66 | Unknown |
| Nf Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 53 | Open |
| Town Pond State Conservation Area | Other state land | 45 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
73 places to go in Portsmouth
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Portsmouth
Grimmells Beach
DirectionsIsland Park Beach
DirectionsPeckham Beach
DirectionsSandy Point Beach
DirectionsTeddy Beach
Directions54 beaches are on OpenStreetMap in all; the list shows named ones from the first 30.
Playgrounds in Portsmouth
10 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Portsmouth
1 dog park without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Portsmouth
2 boat launches without a name on the map.
Peaks in Portsmouth
Slate Hill285 ft elevation
DirectionsTurkey Hill226 ft elevation
DirectionsButts Hill197 ft elevation
DirectionsAlmy Hill184 ft elevation
DirectionsLehigh Hill174 ft elevation
DirectionsCampgrounds in Portsmouth
Melville Ponds Campground
DirectionsTrails & water
17 named trails and 8 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 3.7 mi
Sakonnet Greenway4.0 mi
Heritage Trail1.1 mi
School House Trail1.0 mi
Division Wall1.0 mi
Deer Chase Run1.0 mi
Ballard Trail0.9 mi
Little Creek Preserve0.7 mi
Blue Trail0.6 mi
Orange Trail0.5 mi
Desert Trail0.4 mi
7 more trails
Yellow Trail
0.4 miPinehill Trail
0.3 miSunset
0.3 miPostal Ferry Trail
0.3 miLong Point Trail
0.2 miBear Point Trail
0.2 miRed Trail
0.2 miBiking & sports
2.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.4 mi
off-road bike paths
1.9 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
24Tennis
16Baseball
9Soccer
8Basketball
5Equestrian
3Multi-sport
2Football
2Tracks
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →11 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 6 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Wreck Sites of H.M.S. Cerberus and H.M.S. LarkSite · listed 1973
About itUnion ChurchBuilding · listed 1974
About itOak GlenBuilding · listed 1978
About itLawton-Almy-Hall FarmBuilding · listed 1978
About itGreenvale FarmBuilding · listed 1980
About itHog Island Shoal LighthouseStructure · listed 1988
About itPrudence Island LighthouseStructure · listed 1988
About itFarnham FarmBuilding · listed 2006
About itBorden FarmBuilding · listed 2007
About itSt. Mary’s Episcopal ChurchBuilding · listed 2023
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Portsmouth: 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) | 38 | 40 | 47 | 57 | 67 | 75 | 81 | 80 | 74 | 63 | 53 | 44 |
| Rain (in) | 3.9 | 3.5 | 4.9 | 4.3 | 3.5 | 3.7 | 3.2 | 3.7 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 4.1 | 4.7 |
July is the driest month (3.2 in) and the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 4.9 inches fall in March, the wettest month. The climate in Portsmouth →
Next door
Portsmouth and its neighbors
Portsmouth has the second most mapped trails of the 8 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
North Kingstown61 miPortsmouth34 miWarwick25 miTiverton25 miMiddletown20 miBristol17 miLittle Compton11 miJamestown11 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portsmouth | 35% | 1.5 | 16 | 64% | A |
| Bristol | 12% | 1.8 | 37 | 89% | A |
| Tiverton | 21% | 0.9 | 23 | 38% | A− |
| Warwick | 9% | 0.7 | 13 | 62% | B+ |
| North Kingstown | 24% | 1.4 | 44 | 68% | A |
| Middletown | 19% | 1.6 | 9 | 84% | A− |
| Jamestown | 32% | 1.2 | 72 | 69% | A |
| Little Compton | 32% | 0.5 | 36 | 34% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Portsmouth
Where can I hike in Portsmouth?
The longest trail networks: Green Animals Topiary Garden, 0.7 miles; Pheasant Drive Public Access Point, 0.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Portsmouth is conserved land?
35% 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 Portsmouth’s trails?
Green Animals Topiary Garden and Pheasant Drive Public Access Point don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Portsmouth?
2.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.4 of off-road paths and 1.9 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Portsmouth?
16,634 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Portsmouth or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 367 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Portsmouth have?
Ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #14 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 Portsmouth 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 →