Pine Mountain Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Vermont Fish & Wildlife
1,528 acres0.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Topsham
Topsham has 1,631 acres of parks, 1,632 for every 1,000 residents
12% of Topsham’s land is conserved, about 3,665 acres. The biggest trail networks: Pine Mountain Wildlife Management Area (0.9 mi). 2% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 64% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
12%
3,665 acres · of 48.9 sq mi of land
Trails
14 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,631 ac
1,632 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
2%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
2,326 ft
Fuller Hill
Lakes & rivers
3
What kind of outdoors town is Topsham?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Topsham have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Topsham is ahead of 64% 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 Topsham’s overall grade.
Conserved land12% of the land · typical VT town 14% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (14 mi) · VT 0.6 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land1,632 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,631 acres) · VT 97 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home2% of residents within a half mile of a park · VT 38% · U.S. 72%D
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 64%
LessMore
Vermont towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Topsham’s 12% is ahead of 41% of Vermont towns, while its trails per square mile lead 17% 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
The longest trail network is Pine Mountain WMA, with 0.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Groton State Forest
Nature preserve
335 acres0.3 mi of trail
Butterfield Mountain Block Gro
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
3,665 conserved acres
12% of Topsham’s land. Who manages Topsham’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits2,885 ac
Not recorded2,220 ac
State Conservation Area · 1,634 acConservation Easement · 1,441 acUnknown Easement · 937 acAgricultural Easement · 506 acState Resource Management Area · 351 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,444 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 12 of 36 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pine Mountain Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 1,634 | Open |
| Groton State Forest State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 351 | Open |
| Vermont Land Trust Easement Private Conservation | Not recorded | 158 | Closed |
| New England Forestry Foundation Private Conservation | Not recorded | 77 | Unknown |
Things to do
12 places to go in Topsham
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Topsham
Fuller Hill2,326 ft elevation
DirectionsWilley Hill2,201 ft elevation
DirectionsAllen Hill2,024 ft elevation
DirectionsPierson Hill1,949 ft elevation
DirectionsGalusha Hill1,929 ft elevation
DirectionsMason Mountain1,811 ft elevation
DirectionsWilliams Hill1,680 ft elevation
DirectionsBurnham Mountain1,614 ft elevation · In Pine Mountain Wildlife Management Area
Directions3 more peaks
Whitcher Mountain1,499 ft elevation · In Pine Mountain Wildlife Management Area
DirectionsPine Mountains1,470 ft elevation · In Pine Mountain Wildlife Management Area
DirectionsCurrier Hill1,368 ft elevation
DirectionsCampgrounds in Topsham
Thompson Hill Campground
DirectionsTrails & water
2 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 4.8 mi
Town Highway 120.5 mi
Butterfield Mountain Block Gro0.3 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
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 Topsham: 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 | 14.7 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 26 | 29 | 38 | 51 | 65 | 73 | 77 | 75 | 68 | 55 | 42 | 31 |
| Rain (in) | 3.0 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 3.7 | 4.8 | 3.4 | 3.6 |
February is the driest month (2.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 77 °F). 4.8 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Topsham →
Next door
Topsham 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Topsham | 12% | 0.3 | 1,632 | 2% | B |
| Newbury | 12% | 0.2 | 284 | 21% | B |
| Orange | 20% | 0.6 | 1,570 | 30% | A− |
| Groton | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| 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 Topsham
Where can I hike in Topsham?
The longest trail networks: Pine Mountain Wildlife Management Area, 0.9 miles; Groton State Forest, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Topsham is conserved land?
12% 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 Topsham’s trails?
Pine Mountain Wildlife Management Area and Groton State Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Topsham?
40,694 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Topsham or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,987 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Topsham have?
Ahead of 64% 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 Topsham 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 →