Birdseye Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Vermont Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation
1,783 acres6.2 mi of trail
Six Mile Loop
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Jared and Corin · CC BY-SA 2.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Poultney
Poultney has 562 acres of parks, 187 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Birdseye Wildlife Management Area (6.2 mi). 8% of Poultney’s land is conserved, about 2,270 acres. 22 miles of mapped trail cross Poultney, 0.5 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 75% of U.S. towns · #41 of 71 in Vermont. What drives it
Conserved land
8%
2,270 acres · of 42.6 sq mi of land
Trails
22 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
562 ac
187 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
44%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
46 mi
46 mi paths
Highest peak
2,411 ft
Spruce Knob
Lakes & rivers
3
2 beaches · 1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Poultney?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Poultney have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Poultney is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns, #41 of 71 in Vermont. 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 Poultney’s overall grade.
Conserved land8% of the land · typical VT town 14% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (22 mi) · VT 0.6 · U.S. 0.4BPark land187 acres of park per 1,000 residents (562 acres) · VT 97 · U.S. 13AParks close to home44% 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 75%
LessMore
Vermont towns of 2,500+ (71)Ahead of 43%
Vermont towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Poultney’s 8% is ahead of 26% of Vermont towns, while its trails per square mile lead 43% 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 Birdseye WMA, with 6.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
2,270 conserved acres
8% of Poultney’s land. Who manages Poultney’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits1,881 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)207 ac
State fish & wildlife3 ac
State parks2 ac
Not recorded551 ac
Conservation Easement · 1,759 acState Conservation Area · 422 acAgricultural Easement · 332 acState Park · 128 acUnknown Easement · 2 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,720 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 4 of 21 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bird Mountain Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 328 | Open |
| Lake St. Catherine State Park State Park | Not recorded | 128 | Open |
| Buczek Marsh Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 94 | Open |
Things to do
19 places to go in Poultney
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Poultney
2 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Playgrounds in Poultney
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Poultney
1 boat launch without a name on the map.
Waterfalls in Poultney
3 waterfalls without a name on the map.
Scenic views in Poultney
7 scenic views without a name on the map.
Peaks in Poultney
Spruce Knob2,411 ft elevation · In Birdseye Wildlife Management Area
DirectionsOld Knob1,152 ft elevation
DirectionsTown Hill1,043 ft elevation
DirectionsCampgrounds in Poultney
Lake St. Catherine State Park
DirectionsDisc golf in Poultney
Disc Golf Hole 1
DirectionsTrails & water
7 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 9.4 mi
Six Mile Loop2.8 mi
Pomeroy Place1.0 mi
green trail0.9 mi
Lewis Deane Original Trail0.8 mi
Poultney River Loop0.4 mi
Buczek Wildlife access foot path (orange)0.1 mi
Kinne-Grey Connector0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
46 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
46 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
3Tennis
2Basketball
2Softball
2Baseball
1Multi-sport
1Equestrian
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →5 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 2 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Poultney: 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 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 33 | 42 | 56 | 68 | 76 | 81 | 79 | 71 | 59 | 46 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 2.7 | 2.2 | 3.0 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 4.1 | 2.9 | 3.2 |
February is the driest month (2.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 4.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Poultney →
Next door
Poultney and its neighbors
Poultney has the most mapped trails of the 6 towns around it. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poultney | 8% | 0.5 | 187 | 44% | A− |
| Castleton | 9% | 0.3 | 461 | 28% | B+ |
| Middletown Springs | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Fair Haven | 26% | 0.4 | 637 | 61% | A |
| Wells | 6% | 0.5 | 63 | 26% | B |
| Ira | — 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 Poultney
Where can I hike in Poultney?
The longest trail networks: Birdseye Wildlife Management Area, 6.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Poultney 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 Poultney’s trails?
Birdseye Wildlife Management Area doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Poultney?
46 miles of bike routes are on the map: 46 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Poultney?
25,482 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Poultney or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 2,044 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Poultney have?
Ahead of 75% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #41 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 Poultney 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 →