Green Mountain National Forest
Managed by United States Forest Service
15,773 acres36.5 mi of trail
Appalachian Trail;Long TrailCorridor 7Spruce Peak Shelter Spur
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Winhall
More than half of Winhall’s land is conserved: 61%
61% of Winhall’s land is conserved, about 17,272 acres. 938 acres are parks and preserves, 1,247 per 1,000 residents. 63 miles of mapped trail cross Winhall, 1.4 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
61%
17,272 acres · of 44.1 sq mi of land
Trails
63 mi
1.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
938 ac
1,247 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
25%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
2,041 ft
Spruce Peak
Lakes & rivers
8
What kind of outdoors town is Winhall?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Winhall have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Winhall is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Winhall’s overall grade.
Conserved land61% of the land · typical VT town 14% · U.S. 4%A+Trails1.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (63 mi) · VT 0.6 · U.S. 0.4APark land1,247 acres of park per 1,000 residents (938 acres) · VT 97 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home25% 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 90%
LessMore
Vermont towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Winhall’s 61% is ahead of 100% of Vermont towns, while its trails per square mile lead 76% 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
The longest trail network is Green Mountain National Forest, with 36.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Lye Brook Wilderness
Managed by United States Forest Service
3,677 acres9.6 mi of trail
Appalachian Trail;Long TrailBranch Pond Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Gale Meadows Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department
866 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Who protects it
17,272 conserved acres
61% of Winhall’s land. Who manages Winhall’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service15,760 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits1,349 ac
State conservation607 ac
State fish & wildlife142 ac
Not recorded367 ac
National Forest · 15,760 acConservation Easement · 1,751 acState Conservation Area · 308 acAgricultural Easement · 273 acUnknown Easement · 74 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,144 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green Mountain National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 15,760 | Open |
| Gale Meadows Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 276 | Open |
| Winhall Town Forest Local Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 60 | Unknown |
| Ford Wildlife Refuge State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 31 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Winhall
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Scenic views in Winhall
1 scenic view without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Winhall
Spruce Peak2,041 ft elevation · In Green Mountain National Forest
DirectionsTrails & water
5 named trails and 8 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 0.9 miHorses · 4.3 miUnpaved · 19.7 mi
Appalachian Trail;Long Trail8.5 mi
Branch Pond Trail2.5 mi
Lower Beech Ridge0.3 mi
Corridor 70.2 mi
Spruce Peak Shelter Spur0.1 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.
VTXLBike route
4.3 miCourts & fields
4Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Winhall: 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) | 9.3 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 27 | 30 | 37 | 50 | 63 | 70 | 75 | 73 | 67 | 55 | 42 | 32 |
| Rain (in) | 3.9 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 5.3 | 5.0 | 4.7 | 4.3 | 5.5 | 4.2 | 4.7 |
February is the driest month (3.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 75 °F). 5.5 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Winhall →
Next door
Winhall and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Stratton82 miDorset77 miWinhall63 miManchester55 miPeru33 miSunderland32 miJamaica32 miLondonderry21 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winhall | 61% | 1.4 | 1,247 | 25% | A |
| Manchester | 33% | 1.3 | 362 | 43% | A |
| Stratton | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Sunderland | 78% | 0.7 | 101 | 21% | A− |
| Jamaica | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Londonderry | 21% | 0.6 | 1,210 | 57% | A |
| Peru | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Dorset | 32% | 1.6 | 1,006 | 24% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Winhall
Where can I hike in Winhall?
The longest trail networks: Green Mountain National Forest, 36.5 miles; Lye Brook Wilderness, 9.6 miles; Gale Meadows Wildlife Management Area, 0.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Winhall is conserved land?
61% 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 Winhall’s trails?
Green Mountain National Forest and Lye Brook Wilderness don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Winhall?
105,933 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Winhall or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 13,192 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Winhall have?
Ahead of 90% 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 Winhall 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 →