Satan's Kingdom Wildlife Management Area
Nature preserve
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Jared and Corin · CC BY-SA 2.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Vernon
Vernon has 1,211 acres of parks, 447 for every 1,000 residents
23% of Vernon’s land is conserved, about 2,811 acres. 33 miles of mapped trail cross Vernon, 1.7 per square mile of land. 56% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
23%
2,811 acres · of 19.4 sq mi of land
Trails
33 mi
1.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,211 ac
447 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
56%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
840 ft
Charles Hill
Lakes & rivers
4
What kind of outdoors town is Vernon?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Vernon have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Vernon is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns. 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 Vernon’s overall grade.
Conserved land23% of the land · typical VT town 14% · U.S. 4%ATrails1.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (33 mi) · VT 0.6 · U.S. 0.4APark land447 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,211 acres) · VT 97 · U.S. 13AParks close to home56% of residents within a half mile of a park · VT 38% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 94%
LessMore
Vermont towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Vernon’s 23% is ahead of 82% of Vermont towns, while its trails per square mile lead 82% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A 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.
Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary
Nature preserve
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
2,811 conserved acres
23% of Vernon’s land. Who manages Vernon’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife805 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits573 ac
Other state land475 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)145 ac
Town or city114 ac
Not recorded1,790 ac
State Conservation Area · 1,809 acConservation Easement · 1,082 acLocal Resource Management Area · 459 acUnknown Easement · 252 acAgricultural Easement · 217 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,001 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 13 of 70 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roaring Brook Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 1,809 | Open |
| J. Maynard Miller Memorial Town Forest Local Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 459 | Unknown |
| Fort Dummer State Park State Park | Not recorded | 68 | Open |
| Hatchery Pond State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 16 | Open |
| Satan's Kingdom Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 1 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Vernon
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Vernon
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Vernon
Charles Hill840 ft elevation
DirectionsFox Hill522 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
4 lakes & rivers
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
2Tennis
1Basketball
1Baseball
1Soccer
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). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Vernon: May and July to 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) | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 33 | 37 | 45 | 59 | 71 | 79 | 84 | 83 | 75 | 62 | 49 | 38 |
| Rain (in) | 3.2 | 2.9 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 4.6 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 4.9 | 3.5 | 4.2 |
February is the driest month (2.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.9 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Vernon →
Next door
Vernon and its neighbors
Vernon has the second most mapped trails of the 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vernon | 23% | 1.7 | 447 | 56% | A |
| Guilford | 7% | 0.4 | 193 | 24% | B+ |
| Brattleboro | 16% | 1.3 | 65 | 84% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Vernon
How much of Vernon 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 Vernon’s trails?
Satan's Kingdom Wildlife Management Area and Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Vernon?
43,088 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Vernon or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,686 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Vernon have?
Ahead of 94% 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 Vernon 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 →