Crist Farm Walking Trails
Managed by Bridgewater Retirement Community
20 acres1.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Bbqamazing · CC BY-SA 4.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Bridgewater
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Bridgewater
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 3.9 miles of mapped trail cross Bridgewater, 1.5 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Crist Farm Walking Trails (1.2 mi), Wildwood Park (0.6 mi).
Ahead of 87% of U.S. towns · #53 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
49 acres · of 2.5 sq mi of land
Trails
3.9 mi
1.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
118 ac
18 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Bridgewater?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Bridgewater have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Bridgewater is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns, #53 of 253 in Virginia. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park ranks highest, conserved land lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Bridgewater’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical VA town 4% · U.S. 4%B−Trails1.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (4 mi) · VA 0.7 · U.S. 0.4APark land18 acres of park per 1,000 residents (118 acres) · VA 8 · U.S. 13BParks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · VA 76% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 87%
LessMore
Virginia towns of 2,500+ (253)Ahead of 79%
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.
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 Crist Farm Walking Trails, with 1.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Oakdale Community Park
Park
36 acres0.2 mi of trail
Gen-Oak Connector
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 13 parks & preserves
Crist Farm Walking Trails20 acres · 1.2 mi of trail · Bridgewater Retirement Community
DirectionsWildwood Park10 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
DirectionsCooks Creek Arboretum9 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
DirectionsOakdale Community Park36 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsBridgeview Park2 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsSandy Bottom Park16 acres
DirectionsHarrison Park16 acres
DirectionsWhitelow Park5 acres
DirectionsEdgebriar Park3 acres
DirectionsShiverwood Park2 acres
DirectionsWynant Park1 acres
DirectionsBird Sanctuary1 acres
DirectionsGenerations Park1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
49 conserved acres
3% of Bridgewater’s land. Who manages Bridgewater’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city49 ac
Local Park · 49 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oakdale Community Park Local Park | Town or city | 34 | Open |
| Wildwood Park Local Park | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Harrison Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Bridgeview Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Seven Bridges Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Wynant Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
13 places to go in Bridgewater
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Bridgewater
11 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Bridgewater
Kayak LaunchIn Edgebriar Park
DirectionsScenic views in Bridgewater
1 scenic view without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.8 mi
Gen-Oak Connector0.1 mi
Lakes & 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
11Baseball
6Tennis
4Basketball
3Football
3Soccer
1Beach volleyball
1Volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 2 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Bridgewater Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1984
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Bridgewater: April 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.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.8 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.2 | 14.8 | 14.6 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 44 | 48 | 56 | 67 | 75 | 83 | 86 | 85 | 78 | 68 | 57 | 47 |
| Rain (in) | 2.7 | 2.3 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 2.8 | 2.6 | 2.9 |
February is the driest month (2.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 4.3 inches fall in June, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 86 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Bridgewater →
Questions about parks and trails in Bridgewater
Where can I hike in Bridgewater?
The longest trail networks: Crist Farm Walking Trails, 1.2 miles; Wildwood Park, 0.6 miles; Cooks Creek Arboretum, 0.4 miles; Oakdale Community Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Bridgewater is conserved land?
3% of its land, against a typical 4% for a Virginia town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Bridgewater’s trails?
Crist Farm Walking Trails and Wildwood Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Bridgewater?
15,171 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Bridgewater or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 118 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Bridgewater have?
Ahead of 87% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #53 of 253 in Virginia. 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 Bridgewater 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 →