Green Mountain National Forest
Managed by United States Forest Service
5 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Redjar at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Danby
26% of Danby’s land is conserved: 6,893 acres
101 acres are parks and preserves, 89 per 1,000 residents. 18% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 22 miles of mapped trail cross Danby, 0.5 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 75% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
26%
6,893 acres · of 41.5 sq mi of land
Trails
22 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
101 ac
89 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
18%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
3,770 ft
Dorset Mountain
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Danby?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Danby have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Danby is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Danby’s overall grade.
Conserved land26% of the land · typical VT town 14% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (22 mi) · VT 0.6 · U.S. 0.4BPark land89 acres of park per 1,000 residents (101 acres) · VT 97 · U.S. 13AParks close to home18% 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 75%
LessMore
Vermont towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Danby’s 26% is ahead of 87% of Vermont towns, while its trails per square mile lead 48% 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
6,893 conserved acres
26% of Danby’s land. Who manages Danby’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits12,055 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)160 ac
U.S. Forest Service5 ac
Not recorded4,720 ac
Conservation Easement · 6,165 acUnknown Easement · 5,244 acPrivate Conservation · 3,849 acAgricultural Easement · 1,575 acState Conservation Area · 101 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2,937 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 10 of 47 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smokey House Project Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 3,664 | Closed |
| Smoky House Project Private Conservation | Not recorded | 103 | Unknown |
| Otter Creek Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 101 | Open |
| New England Forestry Foundation Private Conservation | Not recorded | 82 | Unknown |
| Green Mountain National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 5 | Open |
Things to do
11 places to go in Danby
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Danby
Dorset Mountain3,770 ft elevation
DirectionsWoodlawn Mountain3,100 ft elevation
DirectionsParris Hill2,641 ft elevation
DirectionsDutch Hill2,411 ft elevation
DirectionsMount Hoag2,221 ft elevation
DirectionsDanby Hill2,028 ft elevation
DirectionsColvin Hill1,749 ft elevation
DirectionsWalnut Hill1,522 ft elevation
Directions2 more peaks
Lily Hill1,490 ft elevation
DirectionsFayette Mountain
DirectionsPlus 1 peak without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
2 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
1Tennis
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place 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.
Danby Village Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1983
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Danby: May, August 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 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 28 | 31 | 39 | 52 | 64 | 72 | 77 | 75 | 68 | 56 | 44 | 33 |
| Rain (in) | 3.5 | 2.8 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 5.2 | 4.9 | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.8 | 3.7 | 4.2 |
February is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 77 °F). 5.2 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Danby →
Next door
Danby 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danby | 26% | 0.5 | 89 | 18% | B+ |
| Dorset | 32% | 1.6 | 1,006 | 24% | A |
| Tinmouth | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Mount Tabor | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Pawlet | 22% | 0.8 | 957 | 12% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Danby
How much of Danby is conserved land?
26% 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 Danby’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 Danby?
48,774 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Danby or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 106 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Danby have?
Ahead of 75% 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 Danby 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 →