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Sanford Clock Tower, AmsterdamPhoto: Beyond My Ken · CC BY-SA 4.0
BOutdoors
Outdoors in Amsterdam

Amsterdam has 165 acres of parks, 9.1 for every 1,000 residents

The biggest trail networks: Veterans Park (0.7 mi). 89% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 4% of Amsterdam’s land is conserved, about 167 acres.

Ahead of 61% of U.S. towns · #431 of 758 in New York. What drives it

Conserved land
4%
167 acres · of 5.9 sq mi of land
Trails
2.2 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
165 ac
9.1 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
89%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.1 mi
2.1 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1

What kind of outdoors town is Amsterdam?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Amsterdam have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Amsterdam is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns, #431 of 758 in New York. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.

B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Amsterdam’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 61%
LessMore
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 43%

Water is 6% of Amsterdam’s area (0 of 6 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 4%.

How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to B+. 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.

1234
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk

Pick a walk

The longest trail network is Veterans Park, with 0.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Veterans Park

Park
18 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Shuttleworth Park

Park
16 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Riverlink Park

Park
6 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Mohawk Valley Gateway Overlook

Park
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 8 parks & preserves
Veterans Park18 acres · 0.7 mi of trail
Directions
Riverlink Park6 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Directions
Kirk Douglas Park1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Directions
Shuttleworth Park16 acres
Directions
Mohawk Valley Gateway Overlook2 acres
Directions
Guy Park State Historic Site2 acres
Sirchia Park1 acres
West End Memorial Park1 acres
Directions
Who protects it

167 conserved acres

4% of Amsterdam’s land. Water is left out: Amsterdam has 5.9 square miles of land and 0.4 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Amsterdam’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Town or city158 ac
Other state land50 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government5 ac
Regional agency4 ac
State parks2 ac
Local Park · 158 acState Recreation Area · 50 acLocal Recreation Area · 5 acLocal Other or Unknown · 4 acState Historic or Cultural Area · 2 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 15 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
City Of Amsterdam Land
Local Park
Town or city107Unknown
Erie Canal
State Recreation Area
Other state land48Open
Shuttleworth Park
Local Park
Town or city22Open
Veterans Memorial Park
Local Park
Town or city21Open
Riverlink Park
Local Park
Other or Unknown Local Government5Open
Greater Amst School Dist Land
Local Other or Unknown
Regional agency4Unknown
Isabel'S Park
Local Recreation Area
Town or city4Open
Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail
State Recreation Area
Other state land2Open
Guy Park State Historic Site
State Historic or Cultural Area
State parks2Open
Sirchia Park
Local Park
Town or city1Open

4 smaller protected places aren’t shown.

Things to do

14 places to go in Amsterdam

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Playgrounds in Amsterdam
Bacon Playground
Directions
McDonald's PlayPlace
Directions

Plus 7 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.

Trails & water

1 lakes & rivers

Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports

2.1 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

2.1 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
11Baseball
5Tennis
4Basketball
2Football
1Skate park
1Soccer

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

13 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 12 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.

History →
Guy ParkBuilding · listed 1973
About it
Greene MansionBuilding · listed 1979
About it
Vrooman Avenue SchoolBuilding · listed 1983
About it
US Post Office-AmsterdamBuilding · listed 1988
About it
Sweet, Samuel, Canal StoreBuilding · listed 1989
About it
Temple of IsraelBuilding · listed 1992
About it
Amsterdam (46th Separate Company) ArmoryBuilding · listed 1994
About it
Guy Park Avenue SchoolBuilding · listed 1995
About it
Saint Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church ComplexBuilding · listed 1999
About it
Green Hill CemeterySite · listed 2005
About it
Gray-Jewett HouseBuilding · listed 2005
About it
Chalmers Knitting MillsBuilding · listed 2010
About it

1 more on the History page.

When to get out

The best walking months in Amsterdam: May 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.310.511.813.314.615.315.013.912.410.99.79.0
High (°F)313443577078828073604837
Rain (in)3.02.53.23.63.74.44.34.23.64.03.13.5

February is the driest month (2.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Amsterdam →

Next door

Amsterdam and its neighbors

Amsterdam has the second most mapped trails of the 3 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

TownConserved
of land
Trail mi
per sq mi
Park acres
per 1,000
Near a park
½ mile
Outdoors
Amsterdam4%0.4989%B
Florida2%0.114629%C+
Fort Johnson— not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Amsterdam

Where can I hike in Amsterdam?

The longest trail networks: Veterans Park, 0.7 miles; Riverlink Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Amsterdam is conserved land?

4% of its land, against a typical 5% for a New York town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.

Are dogs allowed on Amsterdam’s trails?

Veterans Park and Shuttleworth Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Amsterdam?

2.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.1 of off-road paths.

Is there public land near Amsterdam?

7,369 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Amsterdam or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 165 of them inside the city line.

How much outdoors does Amsterdam have?

Ahead of 61% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #431 of 758 in New York. 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 Amsterdam neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →