Brooklyn State Wildlife Area
Nature preserve
619 acres4.2 mi of trail
Ice Age Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto Brooklyn Wildlife Area Parking
BOutdoors
Outdoors in Exeter
Exeter has 681 acres of parks, 295 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Brooklyn State Wildlife Area (4.2 mi). 32% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 7.5 miles of mapped trail cross Exeter, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 56% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
760 acres · of 35.2 sq mi of land
Trails
7.5 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
681 ac
295 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
32%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
8.9 mi
8.9 mi paths
Highest peak
869 ft
Marshall Bluff
Lakes & rivers
1
1 beach
What kind of outdoors town is Exeter?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Exeter have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Exeter is ahead of 56% 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 Exeter’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical WI town 4% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (8 mi) · WI 0.4 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land295 acres of park per 1,000 residents (681 acres) · WI 31 · U.S. 13AParks close to home32% of residents within a half mile of a park · WI 90% · U.S. 72%C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 56%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. 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 Brooklyn State Wildlife Area, with 4.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
760 conserved acres
3% of Exeter’s land. Who manages Exeter’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources773 ac
Private owners95 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)94 ac
State Recreation Area · 635 acPrivate Conservation · 95 acConservation Easement · 95 acAgricultural Easement · 94 acState Park · 29 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1 acre is a conservation easement, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn Wildlife Area State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 716 | Open |
| Sugar River State Trail State Park | State natural resources | 29 | Open |
| Stream Bank Protection Fee Program - Sd State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 14 | Open |
| Stream Bank Protection Fee Program State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 14 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Exeter
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Exeter
1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in Exeter
1 playground without a name on the map.
Peaks in Exeter
Marshall Bluff869 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Ice Age Trail0.3 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
8.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
8.9 mi
off-road bike paths
When to get out
September is the best month for walking in Exeter
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) | 28 | 32 | 44 | 58 | 70 | 79 | 83 | 81 | 74 | 61 | 45 | 33 |
| Rain (in) | 1.5 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 5.6 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 2.9 | 2.4 | 1.8 |
January is the driest month (1.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 5.6 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Exeter →
Next door
Exeter and its neighbors
Exeter has the second most mapped trails of the 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exeter | 3% | 0.2 | 295 | 32% | B |
| Belleville | under 1% | 0.7 | 17 | 94% | B |
| New Glarus | 4% | 0.2 | 333 | 32% | B |
| Mount Pleasant | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Brooklyn | 3% | under 0.1 | 306 | 12% | C+ |
| Montrose | 4% | 0.6 | 798 | 28% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Exeter
Where can I hike in Exeter?
The longest trail networks: Brooklyn State Wildlife Area, 4.2 miles; Exeter Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Exeter is conserved land?
3% of its land, against a typical 4% for a Wisconsin town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Exeter’s trails?
Brooklyn State Wildlife Area and Exeter Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Exeter?
8.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 8.9 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Exeter?
10,132 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Exeter or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 681 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Exeter have?
Ahead of 56% 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 Exeter 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 →