Educating Children Outdoors (ECO) is a nature immersion program of the Barre Town Middle and Elementary School where students and teachers spend 2-4 hours a week outdoors exploring and learning in nature. The school campus is surrounded by the Barre Town School Forest and our teachers and students have their ECO classrooms within the beautiful forest. 

The Town Forest is a beautiful and historic 370 acres of reclaimed land with an extensive network of trails lovingly maintained by the Millstone Trails Association for diverse uses year-round. This land provides the town with scenic vistas, recreational opportunities including 20 miles of hiking trails, timber production, wildlife habitat, and water protection. Protection of the land as a conserved Town Forest also ensures public access, safeguards drinking water resources, supports the local timber, recreation, and tourism economies, and provides occasional timber revenue to the Town.