Lake Carmi State Park
Nature preserve
555 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Franklin
Franklin has 740 acres of parks, 465 for every 1,000 residents
13% of Franklin’s land is conserved, about 3,083 acres. 11% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 4.7 miles of mapped trail cross Franklin, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 59% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
13%
3,083 acres · of 38.6 sq mi of land
Trails
4.7 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
740 ac
465 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
11%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
830 ft
Gates Hill
Lakes & rivers
3
2 beaches · 2 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Franklin?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Franklin have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Franklin is ahead of 59% 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 Franklin’s overall grade.
Conserved land13% of the land · typical VT town 14% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (5 mi) · VT 0.6 · U.S. 0.4CPark land465 acres of park per 1,000 residents (740 acres) · VT 97 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home11% 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 59%
LessMore
Vermont towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Franklin’s 13% is ahead of 42% of Vermont towns, while its trails per square mile lead 1% of them.
Water is 6% of Franklin’s area (2 of 41 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 12%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ 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
3,083 conserved acres
13% of Franklin’s land. Water is left out: Franklin has 38.6 square miles of land and 2.3 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Franklin’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits4,053 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)1,408 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government587 ac
State natural resources4 ac
Not recorded735 ac
Agricultural Easement · 3,541 acConservation Easement · 2,336 acState Park · 561 acPrivate Conservation · 348 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2,348 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 25 of 107 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Carmi State Park State Park | Not recorded | 561 | Open |
| Franklin Bog Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 174 | Closed |
| Franklin Bog Natural Area Private Conservation | Not recorded | 174 | Open |
Things to do
12 places to go in Franklin
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Franklin
2 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Playgrounds in Franklin
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Fishing spots in Franklin
Lake Carmi Access Area
DirectionsPeaks in Franklin
Gates Hill830 ft elevation
DirectionsBridgeman Hill722 ft elevation
DirectionsShingle Hill715 ft elevation
DirectionsMinister Hill666 ft elevation
DirectionsCampgrounds in Franklin
Lake Carmi State Park Campground
DirectionsMill Pond Campground
DirectionsTrails & water
3 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
When to get out
The best walking months in Franklin: 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) | 9.1 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 26 | 28 | 38 | 53 | 66 | 74 | 79 | 77 | 70 | 56 | 44 | 32 |
| Rain (in) | 2.9 | 2.4 | 2.9 | 3.7 | 4.0 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
February is the driest month (2.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 79 °F). 4.6 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Franklin →
Next door
Franklin and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Franklin
How much of Franklin is conserved land?
13% 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 Franklin’s trails?
Lake Carmi State Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Franklin?
3,415 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Franklin or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 743 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Franklin have?
Ahead of 59% 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 Franklin 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 →