The Northfield Municipal Forests consist of 705 acres and include the Paine Mountain and Cheney Farm parcels, and Dustin’s Pasture parcel. The contiguous Paine Mountain and Cheney Farm parcels are the focus of this plan and are referred to as the Northfield Town Forest hereafter.

The approximately 400-acre Northfield Town Forest property is located to the east of Northfield Village, south and east of Turkey Hill, and west of the summit of Paine Mountain. The land is part of a large block of contiguous forest running north-south along the Irish Hill-Paine Mountain ridge, with a Route 12 boundary to the west and Interstate 89 to the east. Roughly 17 acres of the property are open fields, and the remainder are forested or wetland.