Atherton Meadows Wildlife Management Area
Nature preserve
1,030 acres1.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Whitingham
Whitingham has 1,036 acres of parks, 757 for every 1,000 residents
24% of Whitingham’s land is conserved, about 5,560 acres. The biggest trail networks: Atherton Meadows Wildlife Management Area (1.6 mi). 6% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 76% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
24%
5,560 acres · of 36.8 sq mi of land
Trails
20 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,036 ac
757 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
6%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
2,221 ft
Jillson Hill
Lakes & rivers
11
2 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Whitingham?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Whitingham have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Whitingham is ahead of 76% 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 Whitingham’s overall grade.
Conserved land24% of the land · typical VT town 14% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (20 mi) · VT 0.6 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land757 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,036 acres) · VT 97 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home6% 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 76%
LessMore
Vermont towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Whitingham’s 24% is ahead of 85% of Vermont towns, while its trails per square mile lead 48% of them.
Water is 6% of Whitingham’s area (2 of 39 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 22%.
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 Atherton Meadows WMA, with 1.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
5,560 conserved acres
24% of Whitingham’s land. Water is left out: Whitingham has 36.8 square miles of land and 2.3 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Whitingham’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits8,305 ac
State fish & wildlife378 ac
State conservation290 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)289 ac
Not recorded1,070 ac
Agricultural Easement · 4,590 acConservation Easement · 4,482 acState Conservation Area · 1,030 acUnknown Easement · 189 acState Other or Unknown · 39 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 4,490 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 17 of 51 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atherton Meadows Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 1,030 | Open |
| Sawdaga Pond Site State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 36 | Unknown |
| Sadawga Dam State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 2 | Open |
| Lake Sadawga Access State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 2 | Open |
Things to do
8 places to go in Whitingham
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Whitingham
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Whitingham
2 boat launches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Peaks in Whitingham
Jillson Hill2,221 ft elevation
DirectionsStreeter Hill2,211 ft elevation
DirectionsBurrington Hill2,090 ft elevation
DirectionsHosley Hill1,886 ft elevation
DirectionsStickney Hill1,726 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 11 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 3.7 mi
Hoosac Tunnel and Wilmington Railroad0.2 mi
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
1Tennis
1Baseball
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Whitingham Village Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2006
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Whitingham: May 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) | 29 | 32 | 39 | 52 | 65 | 73 | 78 | 76 | 69 | 57 | 45 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 4.0 | 3.4 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 5.0 | 4.8 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 5.3 | 4.1 | 4.6 |
February is the driest month (3.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 78 °F). 5.3 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Whitingham →
Next door
Whitingham 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitingham | 24% | 0.5 | 757 | 6% | A− |
| Readsboro | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Wilmington | 22% | 0.9 | 308 | 26% | A− |
| Halifax | — 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 Whitingham
Where can I hike in Whitingham?
The longest trail networks: Atherton Meadows Wildlife Management Area, 1.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Whitingham is conserved land?
24% 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 Whitingham’s trails?
Atherton Meadows Wildlife Management Area doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Whitingham?
78,365 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Whitingham or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,040 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Whitingham have?
Ahead of 76% 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 Whitingham 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 →