Photo: Mfwills · CC BY-SA 3.012% of Bakersfield’s land is conserved: 3,158 acres
26% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 5 acres are parks and preserves, 4.2 per 1,000 residents. 9.2 miles of mapped trail cross Bakersfield, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 39% of U.S. towns. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Bakersfield?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Bakersfield have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Bakersfield is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
Vermont towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Bakersfield’s 12% is ahead of 41% of Vermont towns, while its trails per square mile lead 10% of them.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
3,158 conserved acres
12% of Bakersfield’s land. Who manages Bakersfield’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,401 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 3 of 90 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Appalachian - Acadian Ecoregion (Vt) Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 1,757 | Closed |
5 places to go in Bakersfield
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Plus 1 peak without a name on the map.
1 named trail and 2 lakes & rivers
2.5 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
The best walking months in Bakersfield: May, August and 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 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 25 | 28 | 37 | 51 | 64 | 72 | 77 | 75 | 68 | 55 | 42 | 31 |
| Rain (in) | 3.1 | 2.7 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 4.3 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.7 | 4.4 | 4.9 | 3.9 | 3.8 |
February is the driest month (2.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 77 °F). 4.9 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Bakersfield →
Bakersfield and its neighbors
Bakersfield has the second most mapped trails of the 7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bakersfield | 12% | 0.2 | 4 | 26% | C+ |
| Enosburgh | 14% | 0.1 | 41 | 38% | B |
| Fairfield | 22% | 0.1 | 472 | 16% | B |
| Waterville | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Fletcher | 5% | 0.1 | 111 | 3% | C+ |
| Belvidere | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Montgomery | 30% | 0.1 | 278 | 5% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Bakersfield
How much of Bakersfield is conserved land?
12% of its land, against a typical 14% for a Vermont town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Where can I bike in Bakersfield?
2.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.5 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Bakersfield?
30,299 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Bakersfield or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 5 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Bakersfield have?
Ahead of 39% 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 Bakersfield neighbors.
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 →