1
Hoppers-Birge Pond Nature Preserve
Managed by City of Bristol
270 acres8.3 mi of trail
Glacier trailIndian Trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
Outdoors · Bristol
Bristol, CT parks, trails & bike paths
About 5.5% of Bristol is conserved land, roughly 937 acres. There are about 28 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Hoppers-Birge Pond Nature Preserve (8.3 mi), Rockwell Park (2.8 mi), and Barnes Nature Center Preserve (2.7 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Bristol, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Bristol outdoors
Conserved land
5.5%
937 of 17,051 acres
Trails
28 mi
1 mi per sq mi · 14 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
23
15 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
2.3 mi
1.4 mi lanes · 0.0 mi off-road paths
Conserved land is a share of the whole town area. Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number or a place below to zoom in© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Parks & preserves with trails
Ranked by mapped trail miles. Directions go to the nearest marked trailhead or public parking.
2
Rockwell Park
Park
121 acres2.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
3
Barnes Nature Center Preserve
Managed by Environmental Learning Centers
57 acres2.7 mi of trail
Wallace Barnes Accessible Nature Trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
4
Pigeon Hill Preserve
Managed by City of Bristol
39 acres1.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
5
Page Park
Managed by City of Bristol
80 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
6
Memorial Boulevard Park
Park
27 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
7
Environmental Learning Centers
Nature preserve
14 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo Connecticut Park and Ride
All 23 parks & preserves
- Shangri-La Nature Preserve11 ac · 0.2 mi trail
- Casey Field10 ac · 0.2 mi trail · Directions
- Seymour Park5 ac · 0.2 mi trail · Directions
- Brackett Park2 ac · 0.2 mi trail · Directions
- Indian Rock Nature Preserve151 ac
- South Mountain Preserve94 ac
- Shepard Nature Preserve75 ac
- City of Bristol Land54 ac
- Minor Preserve37 ac
- Town Conservation Land (Malone Pond)34 ac
- Girl Scouts of CT34 ac
- City of Bristol Watershed Lands9 ac
- Town Conservation Land (Brook Street)9 ac
- Peck Park5 ac
- Barnes Field3 ac · Directions
- Wilson Playground2 ac
Who protects the land
937 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 58 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. Public access isn't recorded for 7 of 20 parcels. The places listed above are parks and preserves people visit.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes1.4 mi
- Off-road bike paths0.0 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.9 mi
Courts & fields
- Baseball28
- Tennis25
- Basketball10
- Soccer9
- Softball4
- Pickleball4
- Volleyball4
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Next door
Bristol and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol | 5.5% | 27.8 mi | 23 |
| Plainville | 8.1% | 18.2 mi | 9 |
| Burlington | 7.3% | 113.5 mi | 18 |
| Plymouth | 9.2% | 17.2 mi | 10 |
| Southington | 8.6% | 69.0 mi | 16 |
| Wolcott | 2.3% | 20.1 mi | 11 |
| Farmington | 26.8% | 66.0 mi | 39 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Bristol's trails yet. Muddy, icy, a bridge out, where to park: a quick post helps the next person.
Sources: trails, parks, preserves, courts and bike lanes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), map data as of 2026-09-28. Conserved land: USGS Gap Analysis Project, Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US). Measured against the Census town boundary.
How we measure
"Trails" are OpenStreetMap paths, bridleways, public tracks and unpaved footways, plus footways inside a park or preserve or on a named trail route. Sidewalks are left out. Areas are counted on a 20-meter grid, so overlapping parcels count once. "Conserved" includes conservation easements, which protect land from development but are usually private property. Trailheads are the nearest marked trailhead, public parking lot or information board within about 150 meters of a preserve. Dog rules come from OpenStreetMap when someone has tagged them; otherwise we show what's typical for the land manager, or say the rules aren't recorded.