Arcadia Management Area
Nature preserve
9,073 acres81.8 mi of trail
North South TrailMt. Tom TrailDeep Pond trailTippecansett trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailhead
Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Exeter
35% of Exeter’s land is conserved: 13,037 acres
112 miles of mapped trail cross Exeter, 1.9 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Arcadia Management Area (81.8 mi), Fisherville Brook Preserve (4.4 mi), Cuttyhunk Brook Preserve (1.9 mi). 189 acres are parks and preserves, 26 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 81% of U.S. towns · #19 of 38 in Rhode Island. What drives it
Conserved land
35%
13,037 acres · of 57.5 sq mi of land
Trails
112 mi
1.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
189 ac
26 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
19%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
518 ft
Pine Hill
Lakes & rivers
15
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Exeter?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Exeter have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Exeter is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns, #19 of 38 in Rhode Island. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Exeter’s overall grade.
Conserved land35% of the land · typical RI town 19% · U.S. 4%A+Trails1.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (112 mi) · RI 1.1 · U.S. 0.4APark land26 acres of park per 1,000 residents (189 acres) · RI 21 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home19% of residents within a half mile of a park · RI 72% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 81%
LessMore
Rhode Island towns of 2,500+ (38)Ahead of 51%
Rhode Island towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 19%; the U.S., 4%), so Exeter’s 35% is ahead of 95% of Rhode Island towns, while its trails per square mile lead 89% 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 Arcadia Management Area, with 81.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Fisherville Brook Preserve
Managed by Audubon Society of Rhode Island
701 acres4.4 mi of trail
Split Rock Trail (Orange Trail)Red Trail (Outer Loop)Pond Loop (Blue Trail)White Trail (Inner Loop)+1
Dogs usually not allowed
Directionsto the parking lot
Cuttyhunk Brook Preserve
Managed by The Nature Conservancy
359 acres1.9 mi of trail
Cuttyhunk Brook Preserve Trail
Dogs usually not allowed
Directionsto the trailhead
Marion Eppley Wildlife Sanctuary
Nature preserve
783 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 8 parks & preserves
Arcadia Management Area9,073 acres · 81.8 mi of trail
DirectionsFisherville Brook Preserve701 acres · 4.4 mi of trail · Audubon Society of Rhode Island
DirectionsCuttyhunk Brook Preserve359 acres · 1.9 mi of trail · The Nature Conservancy
DirectionsMarion Eppley Wildlife Sanctuary783 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Queen River Preserve260 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Dawley Memorial Park32 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Brownell Plot73 acres
Dawley Memorial State Park10 acres
Who protects it
13,037 conserved acres
35% of Exeter’s land. Who manages Exeter’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation7,847 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits2,888 ac
State natural resources832 ac
Other state land312 ac
Other or Unknown Federal Land9 ac
Not recorded10,476 ac
State Resource Management Area · 8,750 acConservation Easement · 8,433 acPrivate Conservation · 3,877 acUnknown Easement · 433 acForest Stewardship Easement · 310 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 881 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 116 of 136 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arcadia Management Area State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 8,061 | Unknown |
| Queen'S River Macrosite Fee Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 1,452 | Unknown |
| Marion Eppley Wildlife Sanctuary Private Conservation | Not recorded | 685 | Unknown |
| Fisherville Brook Wildlife Refuge Private Conservation | Not recorded | 603 | Unknown |
| Eppley Swamp/Queen'S River Fee Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 406 | Unknown |
| Wood River Barrens State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 250 | Unknown |
| Money Swamp Pond Fee Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 191 | Unknown |
| Bear Swamp Private Conservation | Not recorded | 148 | Unknown |
| Matunuck Hills Macrosite Fee Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 148 | Unknown |
| Arcadia Barrens State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 111 | Unknown |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
16 places to go in Exeter
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Exeter
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Exeter
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Exeter
Pine Hill518 ft elevation
DirectionsCasey Hill453 ft elevation
DirectionsDye Hill453 ft elevation
DirectionsMount Tom430 ft elevation
DirectionsWoody Hill430 ft elevation
DirectionsShrub Hill410 ft elevation
DirectionsYorker Hill322 ft elevation
DirectionsSherman Hill289 ft elevation
Directions3 more peaks
Exeter Hill246 ft elevation
DirectionsWolf Rocks243 ft elevation
DirectionsDumping Rock236 ft elevation
DirectionsPicnic areas in Exeter
1 picnic area without a name on the map.
Campgrounds in Exeter
Frosty Hollow Shelter Camping AreaFee · In Arcadia Management Area · Arcadia Management Area
DirectionsTrails & water
25 named trails and 15 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 30.9 miHorses · 1.9 miUnpaved · 65.8 mi
Mt. Tom Trail3.0 mi
North South Trail2.9 mi
Deep Pond trail2.1 mi
Tippecansett trail2.1 mi
Escoheag Trail1.9 mi
Shelter Trail1.8 mi
Cuttyhunk Brook Preserve Trail1.8 mi
Arcadia trail1.6 mi
Brooke Trail1.6 mi
J.B. Hudson trail1.5 mi
15 more trails
Bald Hill Brook Trail
1.4 miTippecansett Trail
1.3 miPachaug trail
1.2 miSandy Brook Trail
1.1 miMidway Rail
1.1 miSand Hill Trail
1.1 miDeep Pond connector trail
1.1 miBliven Trail
1.1 miDove Crest Trail
1.0 miSplit Rock Trail (Orange Trail)
0.9 miRed Trail (Outer Loop)
0.9 miPond Loop (Blue Trail)
0.9 miRiver Trail
0.8 miLoop Trail
0.7 miDeion trail
0.6 miBiking & 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
6Baseball
4Basketball
2Tennis
1Multi-sport
1Beach volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →5 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 2 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Exeter: 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) | 38 | 40 | 47 | 58 | 68 | 76 | 82 | 80 | 74 | 63 | 52 | 43 |
| Rain (in) | 4.0 | 3.5 | 5.0 | 4.5 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 4.8 | 4.2 | 4.9 |
July is the driest month (3.4 in) and the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 5.0 inches fall in March, the wettest month. The climate in Exeter →
Next door
Exeter and its neighbors
Exeter has the second most mapped trails of the 8 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
West Greenwich178 miExeter112 miVoluntown83 miNorth Kingstown61 miRichmond59 miHopkinton52 miSouth Kingstown50 miEast Greenwich10 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exeter | 35% | 1.9 | 26 | 19% | A− |
| North Kingstown | 24% | 1.4 | 44 | 68% | A |
| West Greenwich | 52% | 3.5 | 3 | 21% | B+ |
| Richmond | 34% | 1.5 | 22 | 21% | A− |
| South Kingstown | 32% | 0.9 | 76 | 92% | A+ |
| Hopkinton | 20% | 1.2 | 169 | 32% | A |
| East Greenwich | 9% | 0.6 | 21 | 88% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Exeter
Where can I hike in Exeter?
The longest trail networks: Arcadia Management Area, 81.8 miles; Fisherville Brook Preserve, 4.4 miles; Cuttyhunk Brook Preserve, 1.9 miles; Marion Eppley Wildlife Sanctuary, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Exeter is conserved land?
35% of its land, against a typical 19% for a Rhode Island town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Exeter’s trails?
Arcadia Management Area and Fisherville Brook Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Exeter?
16,783 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Exeter or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 230 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Exeter have?
Ahead of 81% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #19 of 38 in Rhode Island. 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 Exeter 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 →