Coolidge State Forest
Nature preserve
6,166 acres13.3 mi of trail
Catamount TrailAppalachian Trail; Long TrailShrewsbury Peak Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Mendon
More than half of Mendon’s land is conserved: 61%
61% of Mendon’s land is conserved, about 14,870 acres. 2,751 acres are parks and preserves, 2,472 per 1,000 residents. 45 miles of mapped trail cross Mendon, 1.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 91% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
61%
14,870 acres · of 38.0 sq mi of land
Trails
45 mi
1.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
2,751 ac
2,472 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
34%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
3,917 ft
Little Killington
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Mendon?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Mendon have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Mendon is ahead of 91% 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 Mendon’s overall grade.
Conserved land61% of the land · typical VT town 14% · U.S. 4%A+Trails1.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (45 mi) · VT 0.6 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land2,472 acres of park per 1,000 residents (2,751 acres) · VT 97 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home34% 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 91%
LessMore
Vermont towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Mendon’s 61% is ahead of 100% of Vermont towns, while its trails per square mile lead 66% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− 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 Coolidge State Forest, with 13.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Rutland City Forest
Nature preserve
3,418 acres7.7 mi of trail
Appalachian Trail; Long TrailCatamount TrailAppalachian Trail;Long TrailBucklin Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailhead
Green Mountain National Forest
Managed by United States Forest Service
3,308 acres5.7 mi of trail
Canty Trail (Blue)Long TrailAppalachian Trail; Long TrailAppalachian Trail;Long Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailhead
Aitken State Forest
Nature preserve
891 acres5.4 mi of trail
Aitken State Forest Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailhead
Jim Jeffords State Forest
Nature preserve
418 acres1.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailhead
Who protects it
14,870 conserved acres
61% of Mendon’s land. Who manages Mendon’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service4,148 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits2,980 ac
National Park Service1,759 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government623 ac
Not recorded7,984 ac
Conservation Easement · 5,626 acState Resource Management Area · 4,420 acNational Forest · 3,748 acLocal Resource Management Area · 3,453 acNational Scenic or Historic Trail · 135 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 3,137 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 3 of 23 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green Mountain National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 3,748 | Open |
| Rutland City Forest Local Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 3,453 | Unknown |
| Coolidge State Forest State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 3,112 | Open |
| Aitken State Forest State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 891 | Open |
| Jim Jeffords State Forest State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 417 | Open |
| Appalachian National Scenic Trail National Scenic or Historic Trail | National Park Service | 135 | Open |
| Rutland County Grammar School Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 111 | Unknown |
Things to do
13 places to go in Mendon
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Mendon
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Scenic views in Mendon
Cold River VistaIn Aitken State Forest
DirectionsNorth VistaIn Aitken State Forest
DirectionsPico VistaIn Aitken State Forest
DirectionsPlus 3 scenic views without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Peaks in Mendon
Little Killington3,917 ft elevation · In Coolidge State Forest
DirectionsMendon Peak3,839 ft elevation · In Coolidge State Forest
DirectionsBlue Ridge Mountain3,248 ft elevation · In Green Mountain National Forest
DirectionsRobinson Hill2,746 ft elevation · In Coolidge State Forest
DirectionsEast Mountain2,362 ft elevation
DirectionsBald Mountain2,073 ft elevation · In Aitken State Forest
DirectionsTrails & water
8 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 17.7 mi
Catamount Trail4.5 mi
Appalachian Trail; Long Trail4.3 mi
Aitken State Forest Trail2.5 mi
Canty Trail (Blue)2.2 mi
Long Trail2.0 mi
Shrewsbury Peak Trail1.7 mi
Appalachian Trail;Long Trail0.6 mi
Bucklin Trail0.3 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Mendon: 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) | 9.3 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 27 | 30 | 38 | 51 | 64 | 72 | 76 | 75 | 68 | 55 | 43 | 32 |
| Rain (in) | 3.6 | 3.0 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 5.1 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 3.9 | 5.1 | 3.7 | 4.2 |
February is the driest month (3.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 76 °F). 5.1 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Mendon →
Next door
Mendon 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mendon | 61% | 1.2 | 2,472 | 34% | A |
| Killington | 33% | 1.5 | 224 | 10% | A |
| Rutland | 3% | 0.7 | 87 | 32% | B |
| Shrewsbury | 37% | 1.0 | 2,604 | 29% | A |
| Plymouth | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Mendon
Where can I hike in Mendon?
The longest trail networks: Coolidge State Forest, 13.3 miles; Rutland City Forest, 7.7 miles; Green Mountain National Forest, 5.7 miles; Aitken State Forest, 5.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Mendon is conserved land?
61% 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 Mendon’s trails?
Coolidge State Forest and Rutland City Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Mendon?
107,014 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Mendon or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 13,207 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Mendon have?
Ahead of 91% 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 Mendon 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 →