Proctor Piper State Forest
Nature preserve
1,468 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY-SA 4.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Cavendish
Cavendish has 3,151 acres of parks, 2,537 for every 1,000 residents
20% of Cavendish’s land is conserved, about 5,062 acres. The biggest trail networks: Proctor Piper State Forest (0.5 mi). 8.3 miles of mapped trail cross Cavendish, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 79% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
20%
5,062 acres · of 39.4 sq mi of land
Trails
8.3 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
3,151 ac
2,537 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
53%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
2,116 ft
Hawks Mountain
Lakes & rivers
2
2 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Cavendish?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Cavendish have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Cavendish is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Cavendish’s overall grade.
Conserved land20% of the land · typical VT town 14% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (8 mi) · VT 0.6 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land2,537 acres of park per 1,000 residents (3,151 acres) · VT 97 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home53% 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 79%
LessMore
Vermont towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Cavendish’s 20% is ahead of 73% 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 Proctor Piper State Forest, with 0.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Knapp Brook Wildlife Management Area
Nature preserve
892 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Lord State Forest
Nature preserve
71 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
The Village Green
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
5,062 conserved acres
20% of Cavendish’s land. Who manages Cavendish’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits974 ac
State fish & wildlife170 ac
Not recorded4,246 ac
State Conservation Area · 2,495 acState Resource Management Area · 1,594 acConservation Easement · 844 acAgricultural Easement · 211 acLocal Resource Management Area · 167 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 816 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 8 of 30 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hawks Mountain Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 2,183 | Open |
| Proctor Piper State Forest State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 1,522 | Open |
| Knapp Brook Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 312 | Open |
| Cavendish Woodlot Local Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 167 | Unknown |
| Lord State Forest State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 71 | Open |
Things to do
10 places to go in Cavendish
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Cavendish
2 boat launches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Peaks in Cavendish
Hawks Mountain2,116 ft elevation
DirectionsProspect Hill2,028 ft elevation
DirectionsBall Hill1,870 ft elevation · In Proctor Piper State Forest
DirectionsStar Hill1,759 ft elevation
DirectionsHardy Hill1,739 ft elevation
DirectionsMount Gilead1,683 ft elevation
DirectionsEagleshead1,621 ft elevation
DirectionsWidow Hill1,581 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
2 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.6 mi
Bobsled Trail0.7 mi
Bailey Hill Trail0.7 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
2Tennis
2Baseball
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →8 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.
Cavendish Universalist ChurchBuilding · listed 1973
About itGlimmerstoneBuilding · listed 1978
About itIron Bridge at Howard Hill RoadStructure · listed 1982
About itBrook FarmDistrict · listed 1993
About itAtherton FarmsteadBuilding · listed 2002
About itSpaulding BridgeStructure · listed 2006
About itPollard BlockBuilding · listed 2008
About itAaron Jr. and Susan Parker FarmBuilding · listed 2014
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Cavendish: May and July to 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) | 9.3 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 33 | 41 | 55 | 68 | 76 | 81 | 79 | 71 | 58 | 46 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 3.4 | 2.9 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 3.6 | 4.1 |
February is the driest month (2.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 4.7 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Cavendish →
Next door
Cavendish 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cavendish | 20% | 0.2 | 2,537 | 53% | A− |
| Reading | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Ludlow | 14% | 0.8 | 368 | 41% | A− |
| Weathersfield | 15% | 0.4 | 362 | 32% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Cavendish
Where can I hike in Cavendish?
The longest trail networks: Proctor Piper State Forest, 0.5 miles; Knapp Brook Wildlife Management Area, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Cavendish is conserved land?
20% 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 Cavendish’s trails?
Proctor Piper State Forest and Knapp Brook Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Cavendish?
45,926 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Cavendish or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 4,699 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Cavendish have?
Ahead of 79% 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 Cavendish 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 →