Laudeman Park
Park
6 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Tysto · Public domainBOutdoors
Outdoors in Syracuse
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Syracuse
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 0.1 miles of mapped trail cross Syracuse. 50 acres are parks and preserves, 16 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 58% of U.S. towns · #140 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
40 acres · of 2.2 sq mi of land
Trails
0.1 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
50 ac
16 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.8 mi
What kind of outdoors town is Syracuse?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Syracuse have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Syracuse is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns, #140 of 593 in Indiana. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Syracuse’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical IN town 2% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · IN 0.1 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land16 acres of park per 1,000 residents (50 acres) · IN 10 · U.S. 13BParks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · IN 51% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 58%
LessMore
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 77%
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Syracuse’s 3% is ahead of 65% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 31% of them.
Water is 14% of Syracuse’s area (0 of 3 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 2%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Henry Ward Park
Park
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Veteran's Memorial Crosson Mill Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
40 conserved acres
3% of Syracuse’s land. Water is left out: Syracuse has 2.2 square miles of land and 0.4 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Syracuse’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits27 ac
Town or city12 ac
State fish & wildlife1 ac
State Conservation Area · 27 acLocal Park · 12 acState Recreation Area · 1 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audubon State Conservation Area | Land trusts & nonprofits | 26 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 12 | Open |
| Syracuse Lake Public Access Site State Recreation Area | State fish & wildlife | 1 | Open |
| Mud Lake State Conservation Area | Land trusts & nonprofits | 1 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Syracuse
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Syracuse
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Syracuse
3 boat launches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Biking & sports
2.8 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.8 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
10Tennis
7Baseball
2Football
1Soccer
1Skate park
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Syracuse: April and September
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) | 9.5 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 32 | 36 | 47 | 60 | 71 | 80 | 83 | 81 | 76 | 63 | 48 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.4 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 2.8 | 2.4 |
February is the driest month (2.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.1 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Syracuse →
Questions about parks and trails in Syracuse
How much of Syracuse is conserved land?
3% of its land, against a typical 2% for an Indiana town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Syracuse’s trails?
Laudeman Park and Lakeside Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Syracuse?
2.8 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.8 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Syracuse?
1,145 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Syracuse or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 50 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Syracuse have?
Ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #140 of 593 in Indiana. 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 Syracuse 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 →