Groton Sportsmen's Club
Managed by Groton Sportsmen's Club
100 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Voluntown
More than half of Voluntown’s land is conserved: 67%
67% of Voluntown’s land is conserved, about 16,804 acres. 83 miles of mapped trail cross Voluntown, 2.1 per square mile of land. 318 acres are parks and preserves, 122 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 91% of U.S. towns · #30 of 155 in Connecticut. What drives it
Conserved land
67%
16,804 acres · of 39.0 sq mi of land
Trails
83 mi
2.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
318 ac
122 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
32%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
633 ft
Bare Hill
Lakes & rivers
20
3 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Voluntown?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Voluntown have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Voluntown is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns, #30 of 155 in Connecticut. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Voluntown’s overall grade.
Conserved land67% of the land · typical CT town 15% · U.S. 4%A+Trails2.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (83 mi) · CT 1.4 · U.S. 0.4APark land122 acres of park per 1,000 residents (318 acres) · CT 22 · U.S. 13AParks close to home32% of residents within a half mile of a park · CT 57% · U.S. 72%C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 91%
LessMore
Connecticut towns of 2,500+ (155)Ahead of 81%
Connecticut towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 15%; the U.S., 4%), so Voluntown’s 67% is ahead of 100% of Connecticut towns, while its trails per square mile lead 77% of them.
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.
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.
Constitution Field
Managed by Town of Voluntown
6 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
16,804 conserved acres
67% of Voluntown’s land. Who manages Voluntown’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
USDA easements (NRCS)645 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits168 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government147 ac
State conservation97 ac
Other state land96 ac
Town or city15 ac
Not recorded16,110 ac
State Resource Management Area · 15,613 acAgricultural Easement · 786 acState Recreation Area · 301 acConservation Easement · 260 acUnknown · 141 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 675 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 30 of 35 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pachaug State Forest State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 8,626 | Unknown |
| Patchaug State Forest State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 5,230 | Unknown |
| Pachaug State Forest (Old Forest Management Area) State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 1,757 | Unknown |
| Beach Pond State Recreation Area | Not recorded | 263 | Unknown |
| Palmer Unknown | Not recorded | 141 | Unknown |
| Voluntown Peace Trust Private Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 41 | Unknown |
| Beachdale Pond State Recreation Area | Not recorded | 38 | Unknown |
| Unknown Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 20 | Unknown |
| Town Open Space (gates Street)2 Parcels Local Park | Not recorded | 13 | Unknown |
| Arcadia Management Area State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 1 | Unknown |
Things to do
10 places to go in Voluntown
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Voluntown
Beach Pond Boat Launch
DirectionsGreen Falls Reservoir Boat Launch
DirectionsPlus 1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Scenic views in Voluntown
3 scenic views without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Peaks in Voluntown
Bare Hill633 ft elevation
DirectionsMount Misery427 ft elevation
DirectionsCampgrounds in Voluntown
Frog Hollow Horse Camp
DirectionsMount Misery Campground
DirectionsTrails & water
15 named trails and 20 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 14.2 miHorses · 15.7 miUnpaved · 48.8 mi
Pachaug trail2.3 mi
Yellow Trail2.2 mi
Laurel Loop Trail2.2 mi
Pachaug Enduro Trail1.8 mi
Shetucket Turnpike1.5 mi
Pachaug - Nehantic Crossover1.2 mi
Tippecansett trail0.9 mi
Red Trail0.9 mi
Hell Hollow-Tatro Connector0.7 mi
Pachaug Horse Trail0.6 mi
5 more trails
Cedar Swamp Trail
0.6 miBeachdale Pond Dam Trail
0.6 miPachaug State Forest
0.3 miRhododendron Sanctuary Trail
0.2 miTippecansett Trail
0.1 miLakes & rivers tap for directions
Bailey PondBeach PondreservoirBeachdale PondreservoirCampbell PondDawley PondDouglas PondreservoirGreat Meadow Brook PondreservoirGreen Fall PondHazard PondreservoirHell Hollow PondpondHodge PondKoistenen PondLewis PondLybecks DamMason-Gray PondPalmer PondSawmill PondreservoirTown Line PondWickaboxet MarshreservoirPachaug River
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Wylie SchoolBuilding · listed 1991
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Voluntown: 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) | 9.5 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 37 | 39 | 47 | 58 | 68 | 76 | 82 | 80 | 74 | 63 | 52 | 42 |
| Rain (in) | 3.8 | 3.2 | 4.7 | 4.3 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 4.8 | 3.9 | 4.7 |
February is the driest month (3.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.8 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Voluntown →
Next door
Voluntown and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
West Greenwich178 miExeter112 miVoluntown83 miNorth Stonington75 miGriswold34 miPlainfield23 miSterling15 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voluntown | 67% | 2.1 | 122 | 32% | A |
| Griswold | 29% | 1.0 | 146 | 65% | A |
| North Stonington | 23% | 1.4 | 28 | 18% | A− |
| Sterling | 24% | 0.5 | 19 | 31% | B+ |
| Plainfield | 14% | 0.5 | 7 | 50% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Voluntown
How much of Voluntown is conserved land?
67% of its land, against a typical 15% for a Connecticut town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Voluntown’s trails?
Groton Sportsmen's Club and Constitution Field don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Voluntown?
12,844 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Voluntown or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 318 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Voluntown have?
Ahead of 91% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #30 of 155 in Connecticut. 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 Voluntown 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 →