Maple Shade Town Forest
Managed by Westford Conservation Commission
128 acres1.9 mi of trail
Yellow TrailBeaver Pond TrailStone Wall Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Photo: Abarrows93 · CC BY-SA 4.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Westford
5% of Westford’s land is conserved: 1,272 acres
The biggest trail networks: Maple Shade Town Forest (1.9 mi). 7% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 44 acres are parks and preserves, 19 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 46% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
1,272 acres · of 38.9 sq mi of land
Trails
16 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
44 ac
19 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
7%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,644 ft
Stewart Hill
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Westford have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Westford is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Westford’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical VT town 14% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (16 mi) · VT 0.6 · U.S. 0.4BPark land19 acres of park per 1,000 residents (44 acres) · VT 97 · U.S. 13BParks close to home7% of residents within a half mile of a park · VT 38% · U.S. 72%D
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 46%
LessMore
Vermont towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Westford’s 5% is ahead of 13% of Vermont towns, while its trails per square mile lead 30% 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 Maple Shade Town Forest, with 1.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Milton Town Forest
Managed by Town of Milton
83 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailheadWebsite ↗
Who protects it
1,272 conserved acres
5% of Westford’s land. Who manages Westford’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits1,965 ac
Not recorded183 ac
Conservation Easement · 1,006 acAgricultural Easement · 790 acLocal Other or Unknown · 144 acUnknown Easement · 90 acPrivate Conservation · 79 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,009 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 17 of 55 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taylor Trade Land (Anonymous) Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 79 | Closed |
| Bove Property Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 76 | Unknown |
| Rockingham Town Forest Local Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 39 | Unknown |
| Milton-Westford Road Lot Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 32 | Unknown |
| Brookside School Lot Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 20 | Unknown |
| Martel Lane Lot Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 15 | Unknown |
| Milton Town Forest Local Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 1 | Unknown |
Things to do
9 places to go in Westford
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Scenic views in Westford
Brown's River Covered Bridge
DirectionsPeaks in Westford
Stewart Hill1,644 ft elevation
DirectionsJack Lot Hill1,437 ft elevation
DirectionsDuffy Hill1,306 ft elevation
DirectionsNumber Eleven Hill1,181 ft elevation
DirectionsOak Hill1,155 ft elevation
DirectionsBald Hill1,043 ft elevation
DirectionsProspect Hill1,024 ft elevation
DirectionsMorgan Hill823 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
9 named trails
Named trails
Open to bikes · 1.0 miHorses · 1.0 miUnpaved · 3.1 mi
Goodrich Trail1.1 mi
Schultz Trail1.1 mi
Kilburn to Seymour Track0.8 mi
goodrich trail0.7 mi
Yellow Trail0.4 mi
Covey Rd0.3 mi
Stone Wall Trail0.3 mi
Beaver Pond Trail0.2 mi
Town Forest Access Trail0.1 mi
When to get out
The best walking months in Westford: May and 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) | 9.2 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 27 | 30 | 39 | 53 | 67 | 75 | 80 | 78 | 70 | 57 | 44 | 33 |
| Rain (in) | 2.6 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 4.4 | 3.3 | 3.1 |
February is the driest month (2.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 4.7 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Westford →
Next door
Westford and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westford | 5% | 0.4 | 19 | 7% | B− |
| Underhill | 20% | 0.9 | 8 | 19% | B |
| Fairfax | 11% | 0.2 | 33 | 23% | B |
| Milton | 14% | 0.5 | 210 | 30% | A− |
| Essex | 7% | 2.1 | 32 | 72% | A |
| Georgia | 9% | 0.2 | 18 | 21% | B− |
| Cambridge | 22% | 0.4 | 35 | 26% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Westford
Where can I hike in Westford?
The longest trail networks: Maple Shade Town Forest, 1.9 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Westford is conserved land?
5% of its land, against a typical 14% for a Vermont town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Westford’s trails?
Maple Shade Town Forest and Milton Town Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Westford?
32,655 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Westford or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 44 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Westford have?
Ahead of 46% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Westford 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 →