Explore Burlington's Wild Places

Visitors of Arms Forest will find an extensive trail network lined with unusual plants, glimpses of deer and fox, and old farm roads shaded by rich canopies of centurion oaks.

Centennial Woods is one of the most frequently visited UVM natural areas. This area is home to over 65 acres of mature conifer stands, mixed hardwoods, fields, streams, and wetland areas.

Crescent Woods is a tiny natural area found in a neighborhood in the South End of Burlington, where the sound of traffic is replaced by tinkling water and wind sweeping through the pines above.

Derway Island is actually not an island, but a peninsula! The park is a nature preserve acquired with help from The Nature Conservancy. Nearby Mayes Landing is a popular location for fishing and birding right at the mouth of the Winooski.

The Ethan Allen Homestead is a hub of activity nestled in the Burlington Intervale near the New North End. The Burlington Wildways trail runs through expansive agricultural fields, floodplain forests, and wetlands.

Ethan Allen Park was one of the first public forest parks in the country and today remains a great place to go on a hike or bike ride. Woods filled with a variety of trees and the Ethan Allen Tower are situated along a ridge created by an ancient thrust fault.

Sandwiched between neighborhoods of Appletree Point between Leddy Park and Starr Farm, The Forest at Appletree Point is a unique oasis near the edge of Lake Champlain.

The Heineberg Wetlands are an essential protected area along the Winooski River and a fascinating sight for those passing by on VT Route 127, or paddling around the bend of the Winooski River.

The Intervale is an incredible collection of land containing 360 acres of floodplain forests, historic agricultural land used for organic food production, community gardens, and historical sites.

Kieslich Park is a hub of activity. Home to the Burlington Parks, Recreation & Waterfront Conservation Team, community garden sites, new native plant gardens and more.

Leddy Park may be well known for its sports venues, but it also contains natural areas ranging from the beach on Lake Champlain to an upland forest. An informal network of trails allows explorers to hike through the less used and shadier portions of the park.

McKenzie Park offers a lush landscape of floodplain forest where you’ll find towering silver maples, and seas of jewelweed and wood nettle.

While MCRMW seemingly sits as an island in its New North End neighborhood, it’s part of a tapestry of other forest fragments.

North Beach is a popular spot for beach-goers but contains some intriguing natural features and activities. At the north-most point of Burlington Bay, North Beach is nestled into the arm of Rock Point, which is the peninsula which shelters this beach.

A delightful change from the crowded, groomed beaches farther south, the North Shore Natural Area is a wild place, offering a more peaceful place for watching shorebirds and sunsets on the shores of Lake Champlain.

The northern half of Oakledge Park is all about the beaches, while the southern portion of the park is where forests grow, meadows are being restored as bird habitat, and spring ephemerals bloom.

The quarry's "redstone" bedrock was a popular building material in the 1800s. Today trees take root in cracks and across surfaces of the rock, and water pools in the low areas creating wetlands.

Each year, nearly 10,000 people come to Rock Point, finding a place to walk, seek solitude, learn, play, sing, pray, think, share, and be.

Salmon Hole Park is a beautiful place to watch the waters cascade down the Winooski River. Look for wildlife such as ducks, otters, and beavers. Below the Lower Falls Dam, steelheads, walleye, and, in the fall, landlocked Atlantic salmon spawn.

Schmanska Park contains a section of woodland with informal trails exploring the hillside below the Greenmount Cemetery where once-forgotten gravesites peek through the undergrowth and water seeps toward the Centennial Brook.

Arthur Park is a hotspot for winter recreation and exploration. Once accessible for most of the year, the Sea Caves which were created by the Champlain Sea are now best explored when winter ice is safe to traverse.

Starr Farm Park, part of the historic Starr Farm is now a community space with community gardens, a playground and recreation fields, and sections of sand plain forests growing up above the shores of Lake Champlain.

Not long ago, the Urban Reserve was an industrial complex on Burlington’s waterfront. Today the Reserve is one of the most scenic spots to stop along the Burlington Greenway.

Travel across 9 miles of the Burlington Wildways trail and explore the Wild Places network of public trails, parks, and natural areas.