Fairfield Swamp Wildlife Management Area
Managed by VT DEC
846 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto Fairfield Swamp Access Area
East Fairfield Covered Bridge · Photo: Photo by Gerald Hann; · Public domainBOutdoors
Outdoors in Fairfield
Fairfield has 915 acres of parks, 472 for every 1,000 residents
22% of Fairfield’s land is conserved, about 9,464 acres. 16% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 7.8 miles of mapped trail cross Fairfield, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 64% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
22%
9,464 acres · of 67.3 sq mi of land
Trails
7.8 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
915 ac
472 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
16%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
9.3 mi
9.3 mi paths
Highest peak
1,473 ft
Pine Hill
Lakes & rivers
3
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Fairfield?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Fairfield have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Fairfield is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Fairfield’s overall grade.
Conserved land22% of the land · typical VT town 14% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (8 mi) · VT 0.6 · U.S. 0.4CPark land472 acres of park per 1,000 residents (915 acres) · VT 97 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home16% 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 64%
LessMore
Vermont towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Fairfield’s 22% is ahead of 79% of Vermont towns, while its trails per square mile lead 1% 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.
Elm Brook Wildlife Management Area
Nature preserve
410 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
9,464 conserved acres
22% of Fairfield’s land. Who manages Fairfield’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits15,516 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)3,414 ac
State conservation384 ac
State fish & wildlife341 ac
Joint83 ac
Not recorded1,170 ac
Agricultural Easement · 10,711 acConservation Easement · 8,644 acState Conservation Area · 842 acUnknown Easement · 382 acLocal Other or Unknown · 199 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 8,294 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 123 of 315 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfield Swamp Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 640 | Open |
| Elm Brook Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 203 | Open |
| St. Albans City Watershed Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 199 | Unknown |
| Fairfield Town Forest Local Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 129 | Unknown |
Things to do
7 places to go in Fairfield
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Fairfield
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Fairfield
Boat RampIn Fairfield Swamp Wildlife Management Area
DirectionsWaterfalls in Fairfield
1 waterfall without a name on the map.
Scenic views in Fairfield
East Fairfield Covered Bridge
DirectionsPeaks in Fairfield
Pine Hill1,473 ft elevation
DirectionsFox Hill774 ft elevation
DirectionsPicnic areas in Fairfield
1 picnic area without a name on the map.
Trails & water
2 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 5.0 mi
TH-350.9 mi
Town Highway 320.4 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
9.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
9.3 mi
off-road bike paths
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.
East Fairfield Covered BridgeStructure · listed 1974
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Fairfield: 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) | 9.1 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 26 | 29 | 39 | 53 | 66 | 75 | 79 | 78 | 70 | 57 | 44 | 32 |
| Rain (in) | 2.7 | 2.2 | 2.8 | 3.5 | 3.9 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 3.4 | 3.2 |
February is the driest month (2.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 79 °F). 4.5 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Fairfield →
Next door
Fairfield and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Swanton17 miSt. Albans10 miBakersfield9.2 miFairfax8.9 miFairfield7.8 miEnosburgh4.2 miSheldon2.2 miFletcher2.0 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfield | 22% | 0.1 | 472 | 16% | B |
| Bakersfield | 12% | 0.2 | 4 | 26% | C+ |
| Fletcher | 5% | 0.1 | 111 | 3% | C+ |
| Sheldon | 19% | 0.1 | under 1 | under 1% | C− |
| Swanton | 40% | 0.4 | 109 | 35% | A− |
| St. Albans | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Fairfax | 11% | 0.2 | 33 | 23% | B |
| Enosburgh | 14% | 0.1 | 41 | 38% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Fairfield
How much of Fairfield is conserved land?
22% 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 Fairfield’s trails?
Fairfield Swamp Wildlife Management Area and Elm Brook Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Fairfield?
9.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 9.3 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Fairfield?
9,670 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Fairfield or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,126 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Fairfield have?
Ahead of 64% 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 Fairfield 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 →