Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0

Outdoors in Pownal

23% of Pownal’s land is conserved: 7,015 acres

520 acres are parks and preserves, 159 per 1,000 residents. 48 miles of mapped trail cross Pownal, 1.0 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Green Mountain National Forest (11.4 mi), Mountain Meadow Preserve (1.4 mi).

Ahead of 84% of U.S. towns · #26 of 71 in Vermont. What drives it

Conserved land

23%

7,015 acres · of 46.8 sq mi of land

Trails

48 mi

1.0 per sq mi of land

Park land

520 ac

159 acres per 1,000 residents

Near a park

26%

of residents within ½ mile

Highest peak

2,743 ft

The Dome

Lakes & rivers

1 boat launch

What kind of outdoors town is Pownal?

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

Land that stays wild23% of the land is conserved; a typical Vermont town, 14%.Room to roam159 acres of park per 1,000 residents; the typical U.S. town has 13.A trail town1.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 81% of U.S. towns.

Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Pownal have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Pownal is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns, #26 of 71 in Vermont. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.

A⁻

OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Pownal’s overall grade.

Conserved land23% of the land · typical VT town 14% · U.S. 4%A Trails1.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (48 mi) · VT 0.6 · U.S. 0.4A⁻Park land159 acres of park per 1,000 residents (520 acres) · VT 97 · U.S. 13A Parks close to home26% 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 84%

LessMore

Vermont towns of 2,500+ (71)Ahead of 64%

Vermont towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Pownal’s 23% is ahead of 84% of Vermont towns, while its trails per square mile lead 61% 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 Green Mountain National Forest, with 11.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Green Mountain National Forest

Managed by United States Forest Service

4,178 acres11.4 mi of trail

Broad Brook TrailEast Dome TrailDome TrailAppalachian Trail;Long Trail+1

Dog rules not recorded

Directionsto the trailhead

Mountain Meadow Preserve

Nature preserve

64 acres1.4 mi of trail

Oak LoopNiles TrailLoop TrailKalarama Trail+1

Dog rules not recorded

Directionsto the trailheadWebsite ↗

Taconic Ridge State Forest

Nature preserve

1 acres

Dog rules not recorded

No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗

Who protects it

7,015 conserved acres

23% of Pownal’s land. Who manages Pownal’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

U.S. Forest Service4,183 ac

Land trusts & nonprofits3,841 ac

USDA easements (NRCS)368 ac

Other state land62 ac

State conservation6 ac

Not recorded516 ac

National Forest · 4,183 acConservation Easement · 2,299 acAgricultural Easement · 1,837 acPrivate Conservation · 256 acLocal Resource Management Area · 251 ac

Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2,285 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 29 of 90 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	4,183	Open
South Stream Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area	Not recorded	144	Open
Bennington Town Forest Local Resource Management Area	Not recorded	131	Unknown
Pownal Town Forest Local Resource Management Area	Not recorded	121	Unknown
Quarry Hill Natural Area Private Conservation	Not recorded	95	Open
Quarry Hill Private Conservation	Land trusts & nonprofits	75	Closed
Pownal Hills Private Conservation	Land trusts & nonprofits	32	Closed
Catherine Foster Natural Area At Pownal Bog Private Conservation	Land trusts & nonprofits	27	Closed
Pownal Bog Private Conservation	Not recorded	26	Open
Taconic Ridge State Forest State Conservation Area	State conservation	6	Open

Things to do

6 places to go in Pownal

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

Peaks in Pownal

The Dome2,743 ft elevation

Directions

Carpenter Hill1,677 ft elevation

Directions

Mason Hill1,657 ft elevation

Directions

Mann Hill1,407 ft elevation

Directions

Trails & water

20 named trails and 4 lakes & rivers

Named trails

Open to bikes · 4.5 miUnpaved · 8.7 mi

Broad Brook Trail3.6 mi

East Dome Trail1.7 mi

Dome Trail1.7 mi

Appalachian Trail;Long Trail0.9 mi

Dome 2/3 Summit Trail0.8 mi

Dome Summit Trail0.8 mi

Niles School to Old Military Crossing0.6 mi

Agawon Trail0.6 mi

Westerhoff Cutoff0.6 mi

Dome 1/3 Summit Trail0.5 mi

10 more trails

Hoosic Bend Trail

0.5 mi

Oak Loop

0.5 mi

Taconic Crest Trail

0.4 mi

Niles Trail

0.3 mi

Loop Trail

0.3 mi

Tubs Path

0.3 mi

Depression Trail

0.2 mi

Kalarama Trail

0.2 mi

Brookman Road Connecor

0.1 mi

Tom's Trail

0.1 mi

Lakes & rivers tap for directions

Barber Pondpond South Stream Pondreservoir Thompson's Pondreservoir Hoosic River

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

2Tennis

1Baseball

1Basketball

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

When to get out

May is the best month for walking in Pownal

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)	9.4	10.5	11.8	13.3	14.6	15.3	15.0	13.9	12.4	11.0	9.7	9.0
High (°F)	32	34	43	57	69	77	81	79	72	60	47	37
Rain (in)	2.9	2.3	3.0	3.3	3.7	4.5	4.3	4.2	4.4	4.1	3.3	3.4

February is the driest month (2.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 4.5 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Pownal →

Next door

Pownal and its neighbors

Pownal has the second most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Woodford80 mi Pownal48 mi Bennington48 mi Stamford39 mi Petersburgh24 mi

Town	Conserved of land	Trail mi per sq mi	Park acres per 1,000	Near a park ½ mile	Outdoors
Pownal	23%	1.0	159	26%	A⁻
Bennington	20%	1.1	43	60%	A
Stamford	— not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Woodford	— 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 Pownal

Where can I hike in Pownal?

The longest trail networks: Green Mountain National Forest, 11.4 miles; Mountain Meadow Preserve, 1.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Pownal is conserved land?

23% 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 Pownal’s trails?

Green Mountain National Forest and Mountain Meadow Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Is there public land near Pownal?

95,709 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Pownal or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 5,492 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Pownal have?

Ahead of 84% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #26 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 Pownal 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 →

Post to Pownal

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23% of Pownal’s land is conserved: 7,015 acres

What kind of outdoors town is Pownal?

How much outdoors does Pownal have?

Conserved land, trails & bike routes

Pick a walk

Green Mountain National Forest

Mountain Meadow Preserve

Taconic Ridge State Forest

7,015 conserved acres

6 places to go in Pownal

20 named trails and 4 lakes & rivers

0.0 miles of bike routes

May is the best month for walking in Pownal

Pownal and its neighbors

Questions about parks and trails in Pownal

Trail talk

Where this page comes from