Moose Mountains Reservation
Managed by Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests
1,986 acres15.5 mi of trail
Phoebe's Nable TrailBurrows Farm TrailNorth TrailPiper Mountain Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Ken Gallager · CC BY-SA 4.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Middleton
Middleton has 34 miles of mapped trails, 1.9 for every square mile of land
20% of Middleton’s land is conserved, about 2,293 acres. 170 acres are parks and preserves, 107 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Moose Mountains Reservation (15.5 mi).
Ahead of 85% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
20%
2,293 acres · of 18.1 sq mi of land
Trails
34 mi
1.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
170 ac
107 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
20%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,161 ft
Phoebes Nable Mountain
Lakes & rivers
5
What kind of outdoors town is Middleton?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Middleton have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Middleton is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Middleton’s overall grade.
Conserved land20% of the land · typical NH town 19% · U.S. 4%ATrails1.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (34 mi) · NH 1.2 · U.S. 0.4APark land107 acres of park per 1,000 residents (170 acres) · NH 44 · U.S. 13AParks close to home20% of residents within a half mile of a park · NH 40% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 85%
LessMore
New Hampshire towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 19%; the U.S., 4%), so Middleton’s 20% is ahead of 57% of New Hampshire towns, while its trails per square mile lead 87% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ 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
The longest trail network is Moose Mountains Reservation, with 15.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Middleton Town Forest
Managed by Town of Middleton
112 acres0.4 mi of trail
Piper Mountain Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Ellis R. Hatch Jr. Wildlife Management Area
Managed by New Hampshire Fish and Game Department
288 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Middleton Park
Managed by Town of Middleton
46 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
2,293 conserved acres
20% of Middleton’s land. Who manages Middleton’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Other state land1,693 ac
Town or city37 ac
Not recorded2,271 ac
Private Conservation · 1,825 acForest Stewardship Easement · 1,693 acState Conservation Area · 276 acLocal Resource Management Area · 118 acLocal Park · 50 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 22 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 12 of 14 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moose Mountains Reservation Private Conservation | Not recorded | 1,689 | Unknown |
| Ellis R. Hatch Jr. Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 276 | Unknown |
| Horn Brook Headwaters Tract Private Conservation | Not recorded | 136 | Unknown |
| Middleton Town Forest Local Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 103 | Unknown |
| Middleton Park Local Park | Not recorded | 50 | Unknown |
| Town Forest Local Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 15 | Unknown |
| Flutes and Powwow Islands Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 1 | Unknown |
| Carl Siemon Family Charitable Trust Unknown | Not recorded | 1 | Unknown |
Things to do
4 places to go in Middleton
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Middleton
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Middleton
Phoebes Nable Mountain1,161 ft elevation · In Moose Mountains Reservation
DirectionsPerkins Mountain1,158 ft elevation · In Ellis R. Hatch Jr. Wildlife Management Area
DirectionsPiper Mountain958 ft elevation · In Middleton Town Forest
DirectionsTrails & water
6 named trails and 5 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 1.3 miUnpaved · 12.5 mi
Burrows Farm Trail1.2 mi
Phoebe's Nable Trail1.1 mi
North Trail1.1 mi
Piper Mountain Trail1.0 mi
Mountain View Trail0.5 mi
Bowser Pond Trail0.4 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
1Tracks
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Middleton: 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) | 9.3 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 34 | 42 | 55 | 67 | 75 | 81 | 79 | 71 | 58 | 47 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 3.4 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 5.1 | 4.1 | 4.4 |
February is the driest month (3.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 5.1 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Middleton →
Next door
Middleton and its neighbors
Middleton 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middleton | 20% | 1.9 | 107 | 20% | A |
| Brookfield | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Milton | 25% | 1.3 | 17 | 10% | B+ |
| Wakefield | 6% | 0.4 | 22 | 31% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Middleton
Where can I hike in Middleton?
The longest trail networks: Moose Mountains Reservation, 15.5 miles; Middleton Town Forest, 0.4 miles; Ellis R. Hatch Jr. Wildlife Management Area, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Middleton is conserved land?
20% of its land, against a typical 19% for a New Hampshire town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Middleton’s trails?
Moose Mountains Reservation and Middleton Town Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Middleton?
6,659 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Middleton or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 170 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Middleton have?
Ahead of 85% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Middleton 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 →