The West Rutland Recreation Area is home to a playground, dog park, and ball fields, but there are enough weedy fields and edges in the back of the park to make the area productive for a short birding trip or a longer one if you include the adjacent West Rutland Town Forest-Dodd Farm Block.

The area can be accessed from either of two ways: from Boardman Hill Road near the Exit 6 access of Route 4 or from Fairview Avenue off of Clarendon Avenue (VT-133). Parking is near the small field house at the front of the recreation area.

A straight, level path behind a gate leads you past a ball field on the left and old farm fields on the right. A side trail comes in from the right (west) and is worth checking as there is a weedy field on one side and a small wetland on the other. This trail leads to Clarendon Avenue so turn around and return to the main trail.

Further along, the main trail is a bridge that crosses the Clarendon River. The meadow on the other side is sometimes very wet if there has been heavy rain (high-water boots would get you across easily).

On the other side of this meadow is a second, smaller bridge that takes you up into the town forest, a mixed deciduous/conifer forest. The trail is uphill but winds enough that it is not arduous.