Wild Branch Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department
405 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Jessamyn · CC BY-SA 4.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Eden
48% of Eden’s land is conserved: 19,249 acres
568 acres are parks and preserves, 421 per 1,000 residents. 38 miles of mapped trail cross Eden, 0.6 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 77% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
48%
19,249 acres · of 62.9 sq mi of land
Trails
38 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
568 ac
421 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
under 1%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
2,251 ft
Bowen Mountain
Lakes & rivers
11
1 beach · 1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Eden?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Eden have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Eden is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Eden’s overall grade.
Conserved land48% of the land · typical VT town 14% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (38 mi) · VT 0.6 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land421 acres of park per 1,000 residents (568 acres) · VT 97 · U.S. 13AParks close to home0% 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 77%
LessMore
Vermont towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Eden’s 48% is ahead of 100% of Vermont towns, while its trails per square mile lead 51% 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.
Atlas Timberlands
Managed by Vermont Land Trust
85 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
19,249 conserved acres
48% of Eden’s land. Who manages Eden’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits19,456 ac
State parks6,454 ac
Other state land5,751 ac
Joint3,454 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government556 ac
Not recorded2,320 ac
Conservation Easement · 17,968 acForest Stewardship Easement · 7,015 acPrivate Conservation · 5,174 acUnknown Easement · 2,772 acState Resource Management Area · 1,839 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 11,900 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 29 of 142 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlas Timberlands Partnership Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 3,924 | Closed |
| Long Trail State Forest State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 1,839 | Open |
| Northern Appalachian - Acadian Ecoregion (Vt) Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 1,236 | Closed |
| Johnson State College Research or Educational Area | Land trusts & nonprofits | 1,102 | Unknown |
| Wild Branch Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 405 | Open |
| Green River Reservoir State Park State Park | Not recorded | 62 | Open |
| Green Mountain Club Private Conservation | Not recorded | 14 | Open |
| Lake Eden Access State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 1 | Open |
Things to do
15 places to go in Eden
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Eden
1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Eden
1 boat launch without a name on the map.
Scenic views in Eden
Ritterbush Overlook
DirectionsPeaks in Eden
Bowen Mountain2,251 ft elevation
DirectionsBean Mountain2,201 ft elevation
DirectionsThe Knob1,709 ft elevation
DirectionsUpper Diggings1,352 ft elevation
DirectionsPlus 8 peaks without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
5 named trails and 11 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 14.2 mi
Long Trail7.0 mi
Mount Norris Trail1.8 mi
Babcock Trail1.4 mi
Frank Brown Place0.3 mi
Babcock Trail Extension0.2 mi
When to get out
The best walking months in Eden: 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 | 15.6 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 24 | 27 | 36 | 49 | 63 | 72 | 76 | 74 | 67 | 54 | 41 | 30 |
| Rain (in) | 3.3 | 2.9 | 3.3 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 5.1 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.1 | 5.0 | 3.8 | 4.0 |
February is the driest month (2.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 76 °F). 5.1 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Eden →
Next door
Eden and its neighbors
Eden has the most mapped trails of the 8 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Eden38 miCraftsbury31 miJohnson24 miLowell22 miBelvidere19 miHyde Park16 miAlbany9.2 miMontgomery8.4 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eden | 48% | 0.6 | 421 | under 1% | A− |
| Lowell | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Johnson | 26% | 0.5 | 197 | 57% | A |
| Craftsbury | 13% | 0.8 | 179 | 19% | A− |
| Hyde Park | 21% | 0.4 | 159 | 36% | A− |
| Belvidere | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Albany | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Montgomery | 30% | 0.1 | 278 | 5% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Eden
Where can I hike in Eden?
The longest trail networks: Atlas Timberlands, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Eden is conserved land?
48% 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 Eden’s trails?
Wild Branch Wildlife Management Area and Atlas Timberlands don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Eden?
34,547 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Eden or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 3,835 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Eden have?
Ahead of 77% 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 Eden 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 →