Darling State Park
Nature preserve
1,507 acres11 mi of trail
DH TrailRed TrailUpper J-BarJ-Bar Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY-SA 4.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Burke
Burke has 1,544 acres of parks, 1,172 for every 1,000 residents
95 miles of mapped trail cross Burke, 2.8 per square mile of land. 11% of Burke’s land is conserved, about 2,325 acres. 35% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 89% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
11%
2,325 acres · of 33.6 sq mi of land
Trails
95 mi
2.8 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,544 ac
1,172 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
35%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
3,202 ft
Burke Mountain
Lakes & rivers
3
1 beach
What kind of outdoors town is Burke?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Room to roam1,172 acres of park per 1,000 residents; the typical U.S. town has 13.A trail town2.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 97% of U.S. towns.Land that stays wild11% of the land is conserved; a typical Vermont town, 14%.History along the way3 places on the National Register.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Burke have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Burke is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Burke’s overall grade.
Conserved land11% of the land · typical VT town 14% · U.S. 4%A−Trails2.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (95 mi) · VT 0.6 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land1,172 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,544 acres) · VT 97 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home35% 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 89%
LessMore
Vermont towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Burke’s 11% is ahead of 34% of Vermont towns, while its trails per square mile lead 96% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− 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 Darling State Park, with 11 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Victory State Forest
Nature preserve
16 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
2,325 conserved acres
11% of Burke’s land. Who manages Burke’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits888 ac
State parks462 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)197 ac
Not recorded1,545 ac
State Park · 1,504 acConservation Easement · 778 acUnknown Easement · 452 acAgricultural Easement · 317 acLocal Park · 21 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 779 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 11 of 34 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Darling State Park State Park | Not recorded | 1,504 | Open |
| Darling Memorial Park Local Park | Not recorded | 21 | Unknown |
| Victory State Forest State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 16 | Open |
| Passumpsic Valley Land Trust Private Conservation | Not recorded | 4 | Unknown |
Things to do
10 places to go in Burke
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Burke
1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in Burke
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Peaks in Burke
Burke Mountain3,202 ft elevation · In Darling State Park
DirectionsWest Peak Burke Mountain3,136 ft elevation · In Darling State Park
DirectionsDarling Hill
DirectionsCampgrounds in Burke
Trails & water
25 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 68.4 miUnpaved · 51.8 mi
White School3.3 mi
Flower Blook Trail2.6 mi
Red Trail2.4 mi
Ware's Davis2.1 mi
Moose Alley1.9 mi
New School1.9 mi
J-Bar Trail1.8 mi
Stormin' Norman1.8 mi
DH Trail1.7 mi
Black Bear1.7 mi
15 more trails
Good 'n You
1.7 miDead Moose Alley
1.6 miButter Tubs
1.6 miCoronary
1.5 miLoop
1.5 miDashney Loop
1.5 miBurnham Down
1.5 miLast Call
1.4 miKirby Connector
1.4 miShire
1.3 miBesaw
1.2 miRoly Grail
1.2 miFence Line
1.2 miLess Lumber
1.1 miUpper J-Bar
1.0 miLakes & 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.
MTB Burke AreaBike route
58 miDH TrailBike route
1.9 miRoly GrailBike route
0.6 miCourts & fields
1Baseball
1Tennis
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). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Burke: 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 | 14.8 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 25 | 29 | 38 | 52 | 66 | 74 | 79 | 77 | 69 | 56 | 43 | 31 |
| Rain (in) | 2.7 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 4.6 | 4.2 | 3.5 | 4.3 | 3.1 | 3.3 |
February is the driest month (2.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 79 °F). 4.6 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Burke →
Next door
Burke and its neighbors
Burke has the 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burke | 11% | 2.8 | 1,172 | 35% | A |
| Sutton | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Kirby | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Lyndon | 4% | 1.2 | 11 | 28% | B |
| East Haven | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Newark | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Victory | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Burke
Where can I hike in Burke?
The longest trail networks: Darling State Park, 11 miles; Darling Memorial Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Burke is conserved land?
11% 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 Burke’s trails?
Darling State Park and Victory State Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Burke?
49,381 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Burke or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,572 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Burke have?
Ahead of 89% 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 Burke 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 →