Chickering Bog Natural Area
Nature preserve
160 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
North Calais Village Historic District · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Calais
Calais has 366 acres of parks, 213 for every 1,000 residents
10% of Calais’ land is conserved, about 2,478 acres. 25% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 8.0 miles of mapped trail cross Calais, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 64% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
10%
2,478 acres · of 37.9 sq mi of land
Trails
8.0 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
366 ac
213 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
25%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
2,123 ft
Hobart Mountain
Lakes & rivers
7
3 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Calais?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Calais have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Calais is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns. 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 Calais’ overall grade.
Conserved land10% of the land · typical VT town 14% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (8 mi) · VT 0.6 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land213 acres of park per 1,000 residents (366 acres) · VT 97 · U.S. 13AParks close to home25% 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 64%
LessMore
Vermont towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Calais’ 10% is ahead of 32% of Vermont towns, while its trails per square mile lead 10% 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 Chickering Bog Natural Area, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Calais Town Forest
Park
124 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
East Montpelier Municipal Forest
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
2,478 conserved acres
10% of Calais’ land. Who manages Calais’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits4,348 ac
Other state land196 ac
State conservation108 ac
Not recorded193 ac
Conservation Easement · 2,379 acAgricultural Easement · 1,813 acUnknown Easement · 264 acPrivate Conservation · 195 acLocal Resource Management Area · 192 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2,090 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 35 of 124 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chickering Bog Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 195 | Closed |
| Calais Town Forest Local Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 192 | Unknown |
| Curtis Pond Access State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 1 | Open |
Things to do
9 places to go in Calais
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Calais
Boat Ramp
DirectionsCurtis Pond
DirectionsPlus 1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Calais
Hobart Mountain2,123 ft elevation
DirectionsLong Meadow Hill1,991 ft elevation
DirectionsHersey Hill1,903 ft elevation
DirectionsRobinson Hill1,699 ft elevation
DirectionsBlackberry Hill1,430 ft elevation
DirectionsFoster Hill1,394 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
4 named trails and 7 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 0.7 miHorses · 0.7 miUnpaved · 1.3 mi
Multi-use Trail0.7 mi
Town Highway 180.5 mi
Fifers Ride0.5 mi
Chickering Bog Nature Trail0.2 mi
Lakes & 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.
Courts & fields
1Baseball
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 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Old West ChurchBuilding · listed 1973
About itKents Corner Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1973
About itKents Corner Historic District Boundary IncreaseDistrict · listed 2006
About itNorth Calais Village Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2010
About itEast Calais Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2020
About itAdamant Village Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2023
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Calais: 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 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 26 | 29 | 38 | 52 | 66 | 74 | 78 | 77 | 69 | 56 | 43 | 32 |
| Rain (in) | 2.7 | 2.5 | 3.1 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 3.4 | 3.5 |
February is the driest month (2.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 78 °F). 5.0 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Calais →
Next door
Calais and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calais | 10% | 0.2 | 213 | 25% | B |
| East Montpelier | 23% | 0.5 | 48 | 9% | B+ |
| Worcester | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Marshfield | 30% | 0.4 | 32 | 15% | B+ |
| Woodbury | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Elmore | — 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 Calais
Where can I hike in Calais?
The longest trail networks: Chickering Bog Natural Area, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Calais is conserved land?
10% 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 Calais’ trails?
Chickering Bog Natural Area and Calais Town Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Calais?
58,588 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Calais or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 402 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Calais have?
Ahead of 64% 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 Calais 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 →