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Jerry E. Dickerman HouseJerry E. Dickerman House · Photo: Midatlanticyank · CC BY-SA 4.0
AOutdoors
Outdoors in Newport

Newport has 317 acres of parks, 72 for every 1,000 residents

4.7 miles of mapped trail cross Newport, 0.8 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Bluffside Farm (3.1 mi). 8% of Newport’s land is conserved, about 312 acres.

Ahead of 89% of U.S. towns · #12 of 71 in Vermont. What drives it

Conserved land
8%
312 acres · of 5.9 sq mi of land
Trails
4.7 mi
0.8 per sq mi of land
Park land
317 ac
72 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
88%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.2 mi
2.2 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
1 beach · 2 boat launches

What kind of outdoors town is Newport?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

A trail town0.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 75% of U.S. towns.Parks close to home88% of residents live within a half mile of a park.History along the way7 places on the National Register.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Newport have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Newport is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns, #12 of 71 in Vermont. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; park acres per resident rank highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.

A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Newport’s overall grade.
Conserved land8% of the land · typical VT town 14% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (5 mi) · VT 0.6 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land72 acres of park per 1,000 residents (317 acres) · VT 97 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home88% of residents within a half mile of a park · VT 38% · U.S. 72%B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 89%
LessMore
Vermont towns of 2,500+ (71)Ahead of 84%

Vermont towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Newport’s 8% is ahead of 24% of Vermont towns, while its trails per square mile lead 54% of them.

Water is 23% of Newport’s area (2 of 8 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 6%.

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.

1234
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 Bluffside Farm, with 3.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Bluffside Farm

Managed by Vermont Land Trust
130 acres3.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗

South Bay Wildlife Management Area

Managed by VT DEC
136 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto South Bay

Prouty Beach & Campground

Park
24 acres0.1 mi of trail
Scott's Cove Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗

Gardner Memorial Park

Park
21 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 5 parks & preserves
Bluffside Farm130 acres · 3.1 mi of trail · Vermont Land Trust
Directions
Prouty Beach & Campground24 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Directions
Pomerleau Park1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Directions
South Bay Wildlife Management Area136 acres · VT DEC
Directions
Gardner Memorial Park21 acres
Directions
Who protects it

312 conserved acres

8% of Newport’s land. Water is left out: Newport has 5.9 square miles of land and 1.8 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Newport’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Town or city40 ac
State fish & wildlife20 ac
Not recorded262 ac
Private Conservation · 128 acState Conservation Area · 121 acLocal Park · 40 acConservation Easement · 10 acUnknown Easement · 10 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 10 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 11 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Vermont Land Trust
Private Conservation
Not recorded128Closed
South Bay Wildlife Management Area
State Conservation Area
Not recorded121Open
Gardner Memorial Park
Local Park
Town or city20Open
Prouty Beach Park
Local Park
Town or city17Open
Newport City Forest
Local Resource Management Area
Not recorded10Unknown
Pomerleau Park
Local Park
Town or city3Open
St. Laurent Wetlands
State Other or Unknown
Not recorded2Open
Things to do

6 places to go in Newport

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Playgrounds in Newport

2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.

Trails & water

2 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Unpaved · 1.1 mi
Scott's Cove Trail0.3 mi
Bluffside Boardwalk0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Scotts CoveClyde River
Biking & sports

2.2 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

2.2 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
6Baseball
4Tennis
3Soccer
1Basketball
1Football

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

7 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).

History →
U.S. Courthouse, Post Office and Customs HouseBuilding · listed 1976
About it
Goodrich Memorial LibraryBuilding · listed 1983
About it
Orleans County Courthouse and Jail ComplexBuilding · listed 1984
About it
House at 68 Highland AvenueBuilding · listed 2000
About it
Jerry E. Dickerman HouseBuilding · listed 2001
About it
Newport Downtown Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2006
About it
White, Ai J., DuplexBuilding · listed 2011
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in Newport: 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.110.311.813.414.815.615.314.112.510.99.58.8
High (°F)252838526674797770564331
Rain (in)2.92.42.83.43.94.54.74.63.84.33.23.4

February is the driest month (2.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 79 °F). 4.7 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Newport →

Next door

Newport and its neighbors

Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Derby25 miCoventry5.7 miNewport4.7 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Newport8%0.87288%A
Derby4%0.520630%B+
Coventry19%0.22,02358%A−

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Newport

Where can I hike in Newport?

The longest trail networks: Bluffside Farm, 3.1 miles; Prouty Beach & Campground, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Newport is conserved land?

8% 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 Newport’s trails?

Bluffside Farm and South Bay Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Newport?

2.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.2 of off-road paths.

Is there public land near Newport?

4,850 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Newport or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 319 of them inside the city line.

How much outdoors does Newport have?

Ahead of 89% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #12 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 Newport neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →