Fairfax Recreational Trail
Park
14 acres0.4 mi of trail
Fairfax Grass Path
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Fairfax
11% of Fairfax’s land is conserved: 2,857 acres
172 acres are parks and preserves, 33 per 1,000 residents. 23% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 8.9 miles of mapped trail cross Fairfax, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 57% of U.S. towns · #67 of 71 in Vermont. What drives it
Conserved land
11%
2,857 acres · of 39.7 sq mi of land
Trails
8.9 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
172 ac
33 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
23%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.4 mi
0.4 mi paths
Highest peak
955 ft
Buck Hill
Lakes & rivers
6
What kind of outdoors town is Fairfax?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Fairfax have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Fairfax is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns, #67 of 71 in Vermont. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Fairfax’s overall grade.
Conserved land11% of the land · typical VT town 14% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (9 mi) · VT 0.6 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land33 acres of park per 1,000 residents (172 acres) · VT 97 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home23% 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 57%
LessMore
Vermont towns of 2,500+ (71)Ahead of 6%
Vermont towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Fairfax’s 11% is ahead of 39% 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
The longest trail network is Fairfax Recreational Trail, with 0.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Fairfield Swamp Wildlife Management Area
Managed by VT DEC
12 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
2,857 conserved acres
11% of Fairfax’s land. Who manages Fairfax’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits4,164 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)1,290 ac
State conservation714 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government239 ac
Not recorded275 ac
Conservation Easement · 3,276 acAgricultural Easement · 2,852 acUnknown Easement · 280 acLocal Resource Management Area · 158 acLocal Other or Unknown · 117 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2,582 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 31 of 122 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfax Town Forest Local Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 158 | Unknown |
| St. Albans City Watershed Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 117 | Unknown |
Things to do
7 places to go in Fairfax
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Fairfax
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Waterfalls in Fairfax
Fairfax Falls
DirectionsPeaks in Fairfax
Buck Hill955 ft elevation
DirectionsHedgehog Hill912 ft elevation
DirectionsSand Hill876 ft elevation
DirectionsCampgrounds in Fairfax
Maple Grove Campground
DirectionsTrails & water
8 named trails and 6 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 3.4 mi
Loop Trail1.1 mi
Blue Central Trail0.6 mi
Fairfax Grass Path0.3 mi
The Car Loop0.3 mi
Fence Row0.2 mi
Lady Bug Junction0.1 mi
Dougs Hub0.1 mi
Rock Garden0.1 mi
Biking & sports
0.4 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.4 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
3Baseball
2Softball
1Soccer
1Tennis
1Football
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.
Fairfax Covered BridgeStructure · listed 1974
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Fairfax: 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) | 27 | 30 | 39 | 53 | 67 | 75 | 80 | 78 | 70 | 57 | 44 | 33 |
| Rain (in) | 2.6 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 3.5 | 3.9 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.0 | 4.3 | 3.3 | 3.1 |
February is the driest month (2.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 4.6 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Fairfax →
Next door
Fairfax 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfax | 11% | 0.2 | 33 | 23% | B |
| Cambridge | 22% | 0.4 | 35 | 26% | B+ |
| Westford | 5% | 0.4 | 19 | 7% | B− |
| Georgia | 9% | 0.2 | 18 | 21% | B− |
| Fletcher | 5% | 0.1 | 111 | 3% | C+ |
| Fairfield | 22% | 0.1 | 472 | 16% | B |
| Milton | 14% | 0.5 | 210 | 30% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Fairfax
Where can I hike in Fairfax?
The longest trail networks: Fairfax Recreational Trail, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Fairfax is conserved land?
11% 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 Fairfax’s trails?
Fairfax Recreational Trail and Fairfield Swamp Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Fairfax?
0.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.4 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Fairfax?
20,281 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Fairfax or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 184 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Fairfax have?
Ahead of 57% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #67 of 71 in Vermont. 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 Fairfax 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 →