Benton Riverfront Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Benton Grange #458 · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0C−Outdoors
Outdoors in Benton
Few parks or trails are on the map in Benton
1 acre is park or preserve, 0.4 per 1,000 residents. 1.4 miles of mapped trail cross Benton. 22% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 15% of U.S. towns · #136 of 143 in Maine. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
532 acres · of 28.4 sq mi of land
Trails
1.4 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
1 ac
0.4 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
22%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.1 mi
1.1 mi paths
Highest peak
430 ft
Foss Hill
Lakes & rivers
2
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Benton have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Benton is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns, #136 of 143 in Maine. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; conserved land comes closest.
C−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Benton’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical ME town 6% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · ME 0.7 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land0.4 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1 acre) · ME 15 · U.S. 13DParks close to home22% of residents within a half mile of a park · ME 30% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 15%
LessMore
Maine towns of 2,500+ (143)Ahead of 5%
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Benton. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. 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.
Who protects it
532 conserved acres
3% of Benton’s land. Who manages Benton’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits1,042 ac
State fish & wildlife11 ac
Agricultural Easement · 424 acUnknown Easement · 363 acConservation Easement · 255 acState Other or Unknown · 11 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 521 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 6 of 11 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kennebec River Access- Benton State Other or Unknown | State fish & wildlife | 11 | Closed |
Things to do
1 places to go in Benton
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Benton
Foss Hill430 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
2 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
1.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.1 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Benton: 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) | 9.2 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 28 | 31 | 40 | 53 | 66 | 74 | 80 | 79 | 71 | 58 | 45 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 3.3 | 2.8 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 3.3 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 4.8 | 4.0 | 4.1 |
February is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 4.8 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Benton →
Next door
Benton and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Benton
How much of Benton is conserved land?
3% of its land, against a typical 6% for a Maine town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Benton’s trails?
Benton Riverfront Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Benton?
1.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.1 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Benton?
1,549 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Benton or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Benton have?
Ahead of 15% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #136 of 143 in Maine. 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 Benton 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 →