Photo: Jessamyn West · CC BY-SA 2.5Orwell has 1,230 acres of parks, 951 for every 1,000 residents
33% of Orwell’s land is conserved, about 10,134 acres. 36% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 9.2 miles of mapped trail cross Orwell, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 76% of U.S. towns. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Orwell?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Orwell have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Orwell is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
Vermont towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Orwell’s 33% is ahead of 94% of Vermont towns, while its trails per square mile lead 6% of them.
Water is 5% of Orwell’s area (3 of 50 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 32%.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
10,134 conserved acres
33% of Orwell’s land. Water is left out: Orwell has 47.2 square miles of land and 2.5 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Orwell’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 8,078 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 107 of 303 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pond Woods Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 623 | Open |
| East Creek Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 506 | Closed |
| East Creek Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 427 | Open |
| East Creek Natural Area Private Conservation | Not recorded | 293 | Open |
| Fort Ticonderoga Association Private Historic or Cultural | Not recorded | 135 | Unknown |
| Mount Independence Historic Site State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 129 | Unknown |
| Richville Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 129 | Restricted |
| Felton Hill Swamp Natural Area Private Conservation | Not recorded | 37 | Restricted |
| Felton Hill Swamp Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 18 | Closed |
| Mt. Independence State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 13 | Open |
3 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
13 places to go in Orwell
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
2 boat launches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
2 more peaks
7 lakes & rivers
4 places on the National Register, one a National Historic Landmark
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
The best walking months in Orwell: 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) | 9.3 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 33 | 42 | 56 | 69 | 77 | 82 | 80 | 72 | 59 | 47 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 2.6 | 2.1 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 2.9 | 3.0 |
February is the driest month (2.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.2 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Orwell →
Orwell 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orwell | 33% | 0.2 | 951 | 36% | A− |
| Shoreham | 37% | 0.2 | 16 | 4% | B− |
| Whiting | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Benson | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Sudbury | — 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 Orwell
How much of Orwell is conserved land?
33% 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.
Is there public land near Orwell?
37,367 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Orwell or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,592 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Orwell have?
Ahead of 76% 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 Orwell neighbors.
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 →