The Old Mill Park
Park
13 acres0.4 mi of trail
Old Mill Park Walking Path
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: GearedBull · CC BY-SA 3.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Johnson
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Johnson
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 1.2 miles of mapped trail cross Johnson, 1.0 per square mile of land. 51 acres are parks and preserves, 29 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 85% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
15 acres · of 1.2 sq mi of land
Trails
1.2 mi
1.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
51 ac
29 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.4 mi
0.4 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Johnson?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Johnson have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Johnson is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Johnson’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical VT town 14% · U.S. 4%C+Trails1.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · VT 0.6 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land29 acres of park per 1,000 residents (51 acres) · VT 97 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · VT 38% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 85%
LessMore
Vermont towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Johnson’s 2% is ahead of 0% of Vermont towns, while its trails per square mile lead 61% 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
The longest trail network is The Old Mill Park, with 0.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Lower Pond
Park
9 acres0.3 mi of trail
Lower Pond Loop
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Mineart Athletics Fields
Managed by Northern Vermont University
10 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Sculpture Park
Managed by Northern Vermont University
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 9 parks & preserves
The Old Mill Park13 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
DirectionsLower Pond9 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
DirectionsDewey Green2 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · Northern Vermont University
DirectionsMineart Athletics Fields10 acres · Northern Vermont University
DirectionsSculpture Park3 acres · Northern Vermont University
DirectionsAlumni Rugby Field3 acres
Beard Park3 acres
Nelson Duba (Checkerberry) Field2 acres
Legion Field2 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
15 conserved acres
2% of Johnson’s land. Who manages Johnson’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits3 ac
Not recorded14 ac
Local Resource Management Area · 14 acUnknown Easement · 2 acConservation Easement · 2 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 3 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Johnson Town Forest Local Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 14 | Unknown |
Things to do
1 places to go in Johnson
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Johnson
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
2 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Old Mill Park Walking Path0.4 mi
Lower Pond Loop0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
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
4Soccer
4Tennis
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Johnson: 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 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 26 | 29 | 38 | 52 | 66 | 74 | 78 | 77 | 70 | 56 | 43 | 32 |
| Rain (in) | 2.9 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 3.4 | 3.5 |
February is the driest month (2.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 78 °F). 4.7 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Johnson →
Questions about parks and trails in Johnson
Where can I hike in Johnson?
The longest trail networks: The Old Mill Park, 0.4 miles; Lower Pond, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Johnson is conserved land?
2% 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 Johnson’s trails?
The Old Mill Park and Lower Pond don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Johnson?
0.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.4 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Johnson?
28,986 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Johnson or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 51 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Johnson have?
Ahead of 85% 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 Johnson 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 →