Groton State Forest
Nature preserve
1,973 acres3.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Orange
Orange has 1,503 acres of parks, 1,570 for every 1,000 residents
20% of Orange’s land is conserved, about 4,939 acres. The biggest trail networks: Groton State Forest (3.5 mi). 22 miles of mapped trail cross Orange, 0.6 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 82% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
20%
4,939 acres · of 38.7 sq mi of land
Trails
22 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,503 ac
1,570 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
30%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
3,123 ft
Butterfield Mountain
Lakes & rivers
4
What kind of outdoors town is Orange?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Orange have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Orange is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Orange’s overall grade.
Conserved land20% of the land · typical VT town 14% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (22 mi) · VT 0.6 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land1,570 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,503 acres) · VT 97 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home30% 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 82%
LessMore
Vermont towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Orange’s 20% is ahead of 73% of Vermont towns, while its trails per square mile lead 48% 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 Groton State Forest, with 3.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
4,939 conserved acres
20% of Orange’s land. Who manages Orange’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits1,760 ac
State conservation350 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)36 ac
Not recorded3,701 ac
State Resource Management Area · 1,964 acLocal Resource Management Area · 1,494 acConservation Easement · 1,265 acAgricultural Easement · 880 acState Other or Unknown · 243 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,238 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 9 of 35 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Groton State Forest State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 1,964 | Open |
| Barre City Forest Local Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 1,131 | Unknown |
| Orange Town Forest Local Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 362 | Unknown |
| East Barre Dam State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 243 | Open |
Things to do
7 places to go in Orange
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Orange
Butterfield Mountain3,123 ft elevation · In Groton State Forest
DirectionsKnox Mountain3,064 ft elevation
DirectionsLyme Emery Hill2,313 ft elevation
DirectionsSaint Cyr Mountain2,228 ft elevation
DirectionsHannah Hill2,096 ft elevation
DirectionsHurricane Hill2,008 ft elevation
DirectionsHaden Hill1,850 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 4 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 1.4 miUnpaved · 2.5 mi
Notch Trail2.5 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Harlie Whitcomb FarmBuilding · listed 1979
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Orange: 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) | 9.2 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 23 | 26 | 34 | 46 | 60 | 68 | 72 | 70 | 64 | 51 | 39 | 28 |
| Rain (in) | 3.7 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 4.6 | 5.4 | 5.5 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 5.6 | 4.2 | 4.5 |
February is the driest month (3.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 72 °F). 5.6 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Orange →
Next door
Orange 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orange | 20% | 0.6 | 1,570 | 30% | A− |
| Topsham | 12% | 0.3 | 1,632 | 2% | B |
| Barre | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Groton | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Washington | 18% | 0.4 | 693 | 6% | B+ |
| Corinth | 16% | 0.3 | 70 | 4% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Orange
Where can I hike in Orange?
The longest trail networks: Groton State Forest, 3.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Orange is conserved land?
20% 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 Orange’s trails?
Groton State Forest doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Orange?
42,565 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Orange or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 3,716 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Orange have?
Ahead of 82% 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 Orange 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 →