Blue Mountain Wilderness Sanctuary
Nature preserve
818 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Ryegate
Ryegate has 1,306 acres of parks, 1,233 for every 1,000 residents
10% of Ryegate’s land is conserved, about 2,249 acres. 16% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 5.2 miles of mapped trail cross Ryegate, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 60% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
10%
2,249 acres · of 36.6 sq mi of land
Trails
5.2 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,306 ac
1,233 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
16%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
2,362 ft
Blue Mountain
Lakes & rivers
5
2 beaches · 1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Ryegate?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Ryegate have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Ryegate is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Ryegate’s overall grade.
Conserved land10% of the land · typical VT town 14% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (5 mi) · VT 0.6 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land1,233 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,306 acres) · VT 97 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home16% 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 60%
LessMore
Vermont towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Ryegate’s 10% is ahead of 32% of Vermont towns, while its trails per square mile lead 1% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Roy Mountain Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Vermont Fish & Wildlife
391 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
2,249 conserved acres
10% of Ryegate’s land. Who manages Ryegate’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits1,338 ac
Joint1,043 ac
State conservation887 ac
State fish & wildlife311 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)242 ac
Not recorded413 ac
Conservation Easement · 1,748 acAgricultural Easement · 1,512 acState Conservation Area · 723 acUnknown Easement · 249 acState Other or Unknown · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,833 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 20 of 66 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roy Mountain Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 641 | Restricted |
| Pine Mountain Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 81 | Open |
| Ticklenaked Pond Access State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 1 | Open |
Things to do
6 places to go in Ryegate
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Ryegate
2 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Playgrounds in Ryegate
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Ryegate
1 boat launch without a name on the map.
Peaks in Ryegate
Blue Mountain2,362 ft elevation · In Blue Mountain Wilderness Sanctuary
DirectionsGibson Hill1,549 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 5 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.2 mi
Morrison Trail0.4 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
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
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Ryegate: 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) | 9.2 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 27 | 30 | 39 | 53 | 67 | 75 | 79 | 78 | 70 | 57 | 43 | 32 |
| Rain (in) | 2.6 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 4.6 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 4.3 | 3.0 | 3.2 |
February is the driest month (2.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 79 °F). 4.6 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Ryegate →
Next door
Ryegate 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryegate | 10% | 0.1 | 1,233 | 16% | B |
| Groton | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Barnet | 16% | 0.2 | 754 | 11% | B+ |
| Wells River | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Newbury | 12% | 0.2 | 284 | 21% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Ryegate
How much of Ryegate is conserved land?
10% 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 Ryegate’s trails?
Blue Mountain Wilderness Sanctuary and Roy Mountain Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Ryegate?
48,289 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Ryegate or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,308 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Ryegate have?
Ahead of 60% 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 Ryegate 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 →