Port Townsend has 35 miles of mapped trails, 5.0 for every square mile of land
14% of Port Townsend’s land is conserved, about 606 acres. 585 acres are parks and preserves, 56 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Fort Worden Historical State Park (7.7 mi), Kah Tai Lagoon Nature Park (1.4 mi), Sather Park (0.7 mi).
Ahead of 96% of U.S. towns · #14 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Conserved land
14%
606 acres · of 6.9 sq mi of land
Trails
35 mi
5.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
585 ac
56 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
90%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
14 mi
9.4 mi lanes · 2.8 mi paths
Highest peak
272 ft
Morgan Hill
Lakes & rivers
3
19 beaches · 5 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Port Townsend?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Port Townsend is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns, #14 of 285 in Washington. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; trail miles rank highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Port Townsend’s overall grade.
Water is 6% of Port Townsend’s area (0 of 7 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 13%.
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.
14% of Port Townsend’s land. Water is left out: Port Townsend has 6.9 square miles of land and 0.4 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Port Townsend’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State parks429 ac
Town or city99 ac
County67 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits16 ac
State Park · 429 acLocal Recreation Area · 74 acLocal Park · 64 acPrivate Conservation · 16 acLocal Conservation Area · 14 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 17 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)
Managed by
Acres
Public access
Fort Worden
State Park
State parks
429
Open
Kah Tai Lagoon Nature Park
Local Recreation Area
Town or city
73
Open
Jefferson County Fairgrounds
Local Park
County
32
Open
Jefferson Land Trust
Private Conservation
Land trusts & nonprofits
16
Closed
Levinski
Local Conservation Area
County
14
Open
Loth207
Local Other or Unknown
County
12
Unknown
35th Street Park
Local Park
Town or city
9
Open
Chetzemolka Park
Local Park
Town or city
7
Open
Sather Park
Local Park
Town or city
6
Open
Jefferson County Memorial Athletic Field
Local Park
County
4
Open
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
63 places to go in Port Townsend
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
9.4 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
2.8 mi
off-road bike paths
1.3 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
11Baseball
9Pickleball
8Basketball
8Tennis
5Tracks
2Soccer
1Equestrian
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
41 places on the National Register, 2 of them National Historic Landmarks
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 15 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
The best walking months in Port Townsend: 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
10.1
11.7
13.6
15.2
16.0
15.7
14.3
12.5
10.7
9.2
8.4
High (°F)
46
49
52
57
62
66
71
72
67
58
50
46
Rain (in)
3.1
2.3
2.3
1.8
1.4
1.2
0.6
0.7
1.1
2.3
3.7
3.5
July is the driest month (0.6 in) and August the warmest (highs of 72 °F). 3.7 inches fall in November, the wettest month. The climate in Port Townsend →
Questions about parks and trails in Port Townsend
Where can I hike in Port Townsend?
The longest trail networks: Fort Worden Historical State Park, 7.7 miles; Kah Tai Lagoon Nature Park, 1.4 miles; Sather Park, 0.7 miles; 35th Street Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Port Townsend is conserved land?
14% 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 Port Townsend’s trails?
Fort Worden Historical State Park and Kah Tai Lagoon Nature Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Port Townsend?
14 miles of bike routes are on the map: 9.4 of painted or protected lanes, 2.8 of off-road paths and 1.3 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Port Townsend?
16,197 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Port Townsend or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 586 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Port Townsend have?
Ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #14 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 Port Townsend neighbors.
Photo: Joe Mabel · CC BY-SA 3.0