Socialist Labor Party Hall · Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Barre has 5.2 miles of mapped trails, 1.3 for every square mile of land
86% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 20 acres are parks and preserves, 2.4 per 1,000 residents. 3% of Barre’s land is conserved, about 87 acres.
Ahead of 60% of U.S. towns · #62 of 71 in Vermont. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Barre?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Barre have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Barre is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns, #62 of 71 in Vermont. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
Vermont towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Barre’s 3% is ahead of 4% of Vermont towns, while its trails per square mile lead 71% 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.
Pick a walk
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
barre dog park
87 conserved acres
3% of Barre’s land. Who manages Barre’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 4 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 7 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barre City Cow Pasture Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 67 | Unknown |
| Barre Municipal Park Local Park | Town or city | 11 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Currier Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
13 places to go in Barre
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
3 swimming spots without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
9 playgrounds without a name on the map.
4 lakes & rivers
0.9 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.
16 places on the National Register, one a National Historic Landmark
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 6 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
4 more on the History page.
The best walking months in Barre: May 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 | 14.7 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 27 | 31 | 40 | 54 | 67 | 75 | 80 | 78 | 71 | 57 | 44 | 33 |
| Rain (in) | 2.6 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 3.9 | 3.5 | 4.2 | 2.9 | 3.1 |
February is the driest month (2.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 4.5 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Barre →
Barre and its neighbors
Barre has the second most mapped trails of the 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barre | 3% | 1.3 | 2 | 86% | B |
| Berlin | 13% | 0.4 | 374 | 30% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Barre
How much of Barre is conserved land?
3% 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.
Are dogs allowed on Barre’s trails?
Currier Park and barre dog park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Barre?
0.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.9 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Barre?
21,496 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Barre or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 20 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Barre have?
Ahead of 60% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #62 of 71 in Vermont. 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 Barre 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 →