Chico Creek Estuary
Managed by Kitsap County Parks
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Chico
Chico has 5 acres of parks, 1.6 for every 1,000 residents
0.6 miles of mapped trail cross Chico, 0.2 per square mile of land. 65% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 3% of Chico’s land is conserved, about 51 acres.
Ahead of 35% of U.S. towns · #236 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
51 acres · of 2.4 sq mi of land
Trails
0.6 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
5 ac
1.6 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
65%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.7 mi
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Chico have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Chico is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns, #236 of 285 in Washington. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Chico’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical WA town 4% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · WA 0.8 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land1.6 acres of park per 1,000 residents (5 acres) · WA 11 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home65% of residents within a half mile of a park · WA 92% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 35%
LessMore
Washington towns of 2,500+ (285)Ahead of 17%
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Chico Creek Estuary Conservation Easement
Managed by Great Peninsula Conservancy
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
51 conserved acres
3% of Chico’s land. Who manages Chico’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits42 ac
County9 ac
Unknown Easement · 40 acLocal Other or Unknown · 5 acLocal Conservation Area · 4 acPrivate Conservation · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 40 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 3 of 5 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loth216 Local Other or Unknown | County | 5 | Unknown |
| Chico Creek Estuary Local Conservation Area | County | 4 | Open |
| Great Peninsula Conservancy Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 1 | Closed |
Things to do
1 places to go in Chico
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Chico
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Biking & sports
2.7 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.7 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
When to get out
The best walking months in Chico: 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) | 8.8 | 10.2 | 11.8 | 13.6 | 15.1 | 16.0 | 15.6 | 14.3 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.2 | 8.4 |
| High (°F) | 46 | 49 | 53 | 58 | 65 | 69 | 76 | 76 | 70 | 60 | 50 | 45 |
| Rain (in) | 8.0 | 5.2 | 5.4 | 3.7 | 2.1 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 2.1 | 5.0 | 8.6 | 8.4 |
July is the driest month (0.8 in) and August the warmest (highs of 76 °F). 8.6 inches fall in November, the wettest month. The climate in Chico →
Next door
Chico and its neighbors
Chico has the second most mapped trails of the 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chico | 3% | 0.2 | 2 | 65% | C+ |
| Kitsap Lake | 1% | 0.2 | 3 | 99%+ | C+ |
| Erlands Point | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Silverdale | 3% | 0.6 | 4 | 78% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Chico
How much of Chico is conserved land?
3% of its land, against a typical 4% for a Washington town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Chico’s trails?
Chico Creek Estuary and Chico Creek Estuary Conservation Easement don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Chico?
2.7 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.7 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Chico?
24,254 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Chico or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 5 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Chico have?
Ahead of 35% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #236 of 285 in Washington. 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 Chico 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 →