Dog River Recreation Area
Nature preserve
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Maximilian Schönherr · CC BY-SA 3.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Berlin
Berlin has 1,077 acres of parks, 374 for every 1,000 residents
13% of Berlin’s land is conserved, about 2,915 acres. 30% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 15 miles of mapped trail cross Berlin, 0.4 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 74% of U.S. towns · #43 of 71 in Vermont. What drives it
Conserved land
13%
2,915 acres · of 36.0 sq mi of land
Trails
15 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,077 ac
374 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
30%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.3 mi
0.3 mi paths
Highest peak
2,073 ft
Irish Hill
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Berlin?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Berlin have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Berlin is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns, #43 of 71 in Vermont. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Berlin’s overall grade.
Conserved land13% of the land · typical VT town 14% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (15 mi) · VT 0.6 · U.S. 0.4BPark land374 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,077 acres) · VT 97 · U.S. 13AParks close to home30% of residents within a half mile of a park · VT 38% · U.S. 72%C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 74%
LessMore
Vermont towns of 2,500+ (71)Ahead of 40%
Vermont towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Berlin’s 13% is ahead of 43% of Vermont towns, while its trails per square mile lead 30% 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
2,915 conserved acres
13% of Berlin’s land. Who manages Berlin’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits2,319 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)137 ac
Not recorded1,465 ac
Conservation Easement · 1,441 acLocal Resource Management Area · 1,079 acAgricultural Easement · 1,014 acState Resource Management Area · 361 acState Other or Unknown · 24 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,451 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 24 of 59 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montpelier City Forest Local Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 729 | Unknown |
| Boyer State Forest State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 361 | Open |
| Northfield Village Forest Local Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 171 | Unknown |
| Berlin Town Forest Local Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 167 | Unknown |
| Perry Pond State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 19 | Open |
| Berlin Elementary School Forest Local Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 12 | Unknown |
| Winooski River Streambank State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 4 | Open |
| Dog River Streambank State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 2 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Berlin
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Swimming spots in Berlin
2 swimming spots without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Playgrounds in Berlin
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Berlin
Irish Hill2,073 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
5 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 0.8 miHorses · 0.8 miUnpaved · 5.7 mi
Darling Road Trail1.6 mi
Quarry Trail1.1 mi
Town Highway 650.7 mi
Town Highway 460.3 mi
Town Highway 450.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.3 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
2Basketball
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 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 Berlin: 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 | 30 | 39 | 52 | 66 | 74 | 78 | 76 | 69 | 56 | 43 | 32 |
| Rain (in) | 2.8 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.1 | 3.7 | 4.4 | 3.2 | 3.4 |
February is the driest month (2.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 78 °F). 4.7 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Berlin →
Next door
Berlin and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Barre33 miMontpelier25 miNorthfield23 miEast Montpelier15 miBerlin15 miMiddlesex15 miMoretown9.7 miBarre5.2 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berlin | 13% | 0.4 | 374 | 30% | B+ |
| Montpelier | 8% | 2.5 | 65 | 69% | A |
| Middlesex | 18% | 0.4 | 630 | under 1% | B+ |
| East Montpelier | 23% | 0.5 | 48 | 9% | B+ |
| Barre | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Moretown | 11% | 0.2 | 10 | 36% | B− |
| Northfield | 5% | 0.5 | 117 | 68% | A− |
| Barre | 3% | 1.3 | 2 | 86% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Berlin
How much of Berlin is conserved land?
13% 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 Berlin’s trails?
Dog River Recreation Area doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Berlin?
0.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.3 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Berlin?
31,501 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Berlin or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 2,036 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Berlin have?
Ahead of 74% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #43 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 Berlin 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 →