Green Mountain National Forest
Managed by United States Forest Service
69 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Kingsley Grist Mill Historic District · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0COutdoors
Outdoors in Clarendon
Clarendon has 6.5 miles of mapped trails, 0.2 for every square mile of land
9% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 50 acres are parks and preserves, 20 per 1,000 residents. 2% of Clarendon’s land is conserved, about 365 acres.
Ahead of 33% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
365 acres · of 31.3 sq mi of land
Trails
6.5 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
50 ac
20 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
9%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
2,379 ft
Edmunds Peak
Lakes & rivers
3
What kind of outdoors town is Clarendon?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Clarendon have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Clarendon is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Clarendon’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical VT town 14% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (7 mi) · VT 0.6 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land20 acres of park per 1,000 residents (50 acres) · VT 97 · U.S. 13BParks close to home9% of residents within a half mile of a park · VT 38% · U.S. 72%D
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 33%
LessMore
Vermont towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Clarendon’s 2% is ahead of 0% 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 C− to B−. 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
365 conserved acres
2% of Clarendon’s land. Who manages Clarendon’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits207 ac
National Park Service78 ac
State parks73 ac
U.S. Forest Service69 ac
Other state land58 ac
Private owners29 ac
State fish & wildlife24 ac
Conservation Easement · 180 acState Resource Management Area · 90 acAgricultural Easement · 86 acNational Scenic or Historic Trail · 78 acNational Forest · 69 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 123 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 5 of 16 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Clarendon Gorge State Forest State Resource Management Area | State parks | 90 | Open |
| Appalachian National Scenic Trail National Scenic or Historic Trail | National Park Service | 78 | Open |
| Green Mountain National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 69 | Open |
| Clarendon Town Forest Local Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 49 | Unknown |
| Castleton State College Research or Educational Area | Land trusts & nonprofits | 29 | Unknown |
Things to do
3 places to go in Clarendon
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Clarendon
Edmunds Peak2,379 ft elevation
DirectionsBoardman Hill1,309 ft elevation
DirectionsFlat Rock1,230 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
3 lakes & rivers
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
2Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →6 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 2 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Kingsley Covered BridgeStructure · listed 1974
About itClarendon HouseBuilding · listed 1976
About itClarendon Congregational ChurchBuilding · listed 1984
About itCold River BridgeStructure · listed 1991
About itEast Clarendon Railroad StationBuilding · listed 1999
About itKingsley Grist Mill Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2007
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Clarendon: 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) | 9.3 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 33 | 42 | 56 | 69 | 77 | 81 | 79 | 72 | 59 | 47 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 2.7 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 3.0 | 3.3 |
February is the driest month (2.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 4.2 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Clarendon →
Next door
Clarendon 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clarendon | 2% | 0.2 | 20 | 9% | C |
| Wallingford | 34% | 0.9 | 23 | 25% | A− |
| Rutland | 3% | 0.7 | 87 | 32% | B |
| Ira | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Shrewsbury | 37% | 1.0 | 2,604 | 29% | A |
| Tinmouth | — 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 Clarendon
How much of Clarendon is conserved land?
2% 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 Clarendon’s trails?
Green Mountain National Forest doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Clarendon?
53,668 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Clarendon or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 195 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Clarendon have?
Ahead of 33% 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 Clarendon 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 →