Wylie Park
Park
44 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Cornwell Inn · Photo: Bill Fitzpatrick · CC BY-SA 3.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Chester
98% of residents live within a half mile of a park in Chester
0.3 miles of mapped trail cross Chester, 0.1 per square mile of land. 4% of Chester’s land is conserved, about 109 acres. 78 acres are parks and preserves, 15 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 59% of U.S. towns · #30 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
109 acres · of 4.1 sq mi of land
Trails
0.3 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
78 ac
15 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
98%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Chester?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Chester have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Chester is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns, #30 of 169 in South Carolina. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Chester’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical SC town 1% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · SC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4CPark land15 acres of park per 1,000 residents (78 acres) · SC 6 · U.S. 13BParks close to home98% of residents within a half mile of a park · SC 52% · U.S. 72%A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 59%
LessMore
South Carolina towns of 2,500+ (169)Ahead of 83%
Few South Carolina towns conserve much land (a typical one, 1%; the U.S., 4%), so Chester’s 4% is ahead of 80% of South Carolina towns, while its trails per square mile lead 35% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B− 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 Wylie Park, with 0.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Chester Sports Complex
Park
17 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
109 conserved acres
4% of Chester’s land. Who manages Chester’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city91 ac
County18 ac
Local Park · 72 acLocal Historic or Cultural Area · 36 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wylie Park Complex Local Park | Town or city | 47 | Open |
| Evergreen Cemetery Local Historic or Cultural Area | Town or city | 36 | Open |
| Chester County Fairgounds Local Park | County | 18 | Open |
| Frank Connor Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Jones Adair Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Finley Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Hughes / Bagwell Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| George B. Guy Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Brooklyn Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Chester
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Chester
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
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
3Baseball
2Pickleball
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). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Chester: April and May
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) | 10.1 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 14.5 | 14.3 | 13.4 | 12.3 | 11.2 | 10.3 | 9.8 |
| High (°F) | 54 | 58 | 65 | 74 | 81 | 88 | 91 | 89 | 83 | 74 | 63 | 56 |
| Rain (in) | 3.8 | 3.3 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 3.7 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.9 |
October is the driest month (3.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 91 °F). 4.1 inches fall in March, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 91 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Chester →
Next door
Chester and its neighbors
Chester has the most mapped trails of the 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chester | 4% | 0.1 | 15 | 98% | B |
| Gayle Mill | — 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 Chester
Where can I hike in Chester?
The longest trail networks: Wylie Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Chester is conserved land?
4% of its land, against a typical 1% for a South Carolina town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Chester’s trails?
Wylie Park and Chester Sports Complex don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Chester?
1,172 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Chester or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 78 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Chester have?
Ahead of 59% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #30 of 169 in South Carolina. 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 Chester 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 →