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Austerlitz Town HallPhoto: Tyler A. McNeil · CC BY 4.0
A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Austerlitz

Austerlitz has 3,517 acres of parks, 2,098 for every 1,000 residents

19% of Austerlitz’s land is conserved, about 5,789 acres. The biggest trail networks: Beebe Hill Multiple Use Area (13.8 mi), Harvey Mountain State Forest (8.4 mi), Harris Conservation Area (1.5 mi). 25 miles of mapped trail cross Austerlitz, 0.5 per square mile of land.

Ahead of 82% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Conserved land
19%
5,789 acres · of 48.7 sq mi of land
Trails
25 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
3,517 ac
2,098 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
34%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,952 ft
Pinnacle Point
Lakes & rivers
4

What kind of outdoors town is Austerlitz?

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

Room to roam2,098 acres of park per 1,000 residents; the typical U.S. town has 13.Land that stays wild19% of the land is conserved; a typical New York town, 5%.History along the way7 places on the National Register.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Austerlitz have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Austerlitz is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.

A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Austerlitz’s overall grade.
Conserved land19% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (25 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4BPark land2,098 acres of park per 1,000 residents (3,517 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home34% of residents within a half mile of a park · NY 70% · U.S. 72%C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 82%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ 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.

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 Beebe Hill Multiple Use Area, with 13.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Beebe Hill Multiple Use Area

Park
1,438 acres13.8 mi of trail
No Bottom Pond Loop (red)Horse Trail (yellow)No Bottom Pond (blue)Fire tower (red)+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗

Harvey Mountain State Forest

Nature preserve
1,986 acres8.4 mi of trail
Route 22 connector (red)Pinnacle point (yellow)Harvey mountain (red)Solitude (red)+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗

Harris Conservation Area

Managed by Columbia Land Conservancy
76 acres1.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗

Beebe Hill State Forest

Nature preserve
40 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
All 5 parks & preserves
Beebe Hill Multiple Use Area1,438 acres · 13.8 mi of trail
Directions
Harvey Mountain State Forest1,986 acres · 8.4 mi of trail
Directions
Harris Conservation Area76 acres · 1.5 mi of trail · Columbia Land Conservancy
Directions
Beebe Hill State Forest40 acres
Circle Museum Sculpture Park4 acres
Who protects it

5,789 conserved acres

19% of Austerlitz’s land. Who manages Austerlitz’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Land trusts & nonprofits4,332 ac
State conservation3,486 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)26 ac
Town or city9 ac
Agricultural Easement · 2,180 acState Conservation Area · 2,038 acState Resource Management Area · 1,448 acConservation Easement · 1,263 acForest Stewardship Easement · 847 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2,226 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 34 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Harvey Mountain State Forest
State Conservation Area
State conservation1,997Open
Beebe Hill Multiple Use Area
State Resource Management Area
State conservation1,448Open
Columbia Land Conservancy Land
Private Conservation
Land trusts & nonprofits67Closed
Beebe Hill State Forest
State Conservation Area
State conservation41Open
Town Of Austerlitz Land
Local Park
Town or city9Unknown
Things to do

11 places to go in Austerlitz

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

Peaks in Austerlitz
Pinnacle Point1,952 ft elevation · In Harvey Mountain State Forest
Directions
Bald Mountain1,831 ft elevation
Directions
Fog Hill1,785 ft elevation
Directions
Beebe Hill1,759 ft elevation · In Beebe Hill Multiple Use Area
Directions
Trails & water

25 named trails and 4 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Open to bikes · 1.2 miUnpaved · 20.3 mi
No Bottom Pond Loop (red)2.2 mi
Route 22 connector (red)1.6 mi
Pinnacle point (yellow)1.4 mi
Harvey mountain (red)1.3 mi
Horse Trail (yellow)1.1 mi
No Bottom Pond (blue)1.0 mi
Solitude (red)0.8 mi
Fire tower (red)0.8 mi
Salsa Verde0.6 mi
Orc0.6 mi
15 more trails
Turkey Hill (yellow)
0.6 mi
Red Eft (red)
0.5 mi
Anne Jackson (blue)
0.5 mi
Shelter
0.5 mi
Tango (red)
0.5 mi
Caballero (blue)
0.4 mi
Ninja Test
0.4 mi
Crosstown/Barret Pond (red)
0.4 mi
Bear Brook (yellow)
0.4 mi
Bear Brook
0.3 mi
Turkey Hill Alternate
0.3 mi
Bear Brook (red)
0.3 mi
Harvey mountain (blue)
0.3 mi
Red Eft (blue)
0.2 mi
Turkey Hill
0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Barrett PondBeaver PondNo Bottom PondKline Kill
Biking & sports

0.0 miles of bike routes

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

Courts & fields
1Tennis

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

History along the way

7 places on the National Register, one a National Historic Landmark

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).

History →
★
SteepletopNational Historic Landmark · Building · listed 1971
About it
Spencertown AcademyBuilding · listed 1973
About it
St. Peter's Presbyterian Church and Spencertown CemeteryBuilding · listed 2002
About it
Pratt HomesteadBuilding · listed 2009
About it
Daniel and Clarissa Baldwin HouseBuilding · listed 2012
About it
Austerlitz Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2018
About it
Spencertown Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2018
About it
When to get out

May is the best month for walking in Austerlitz

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)9.410.511.813.314.615.315.013.912.411.09.79.1
High (°F)323544576976817972604837
Rain (in)3.12.43.13.43.74.54.34.34.64.13.33.6

February is the driest month (2.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 4.6 inches fall in September, the wettest month. The climate in Austerlitz →

Next door

Austerlitz and its neighbors

Austerlitz has the most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Austerlitz25 miGhent10 miChatham7.6 miCanaan3.9 miHillsdale3.9 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Austerlitz19%0.52,09834%A−
Ghent10%0.24654%B+
Canaan8%0.129215%B−
Hillsdale7%0.13714%C+
Chatham6%0.12821%B−

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

Questions about parks and trails in Austerlitz

Where can I hike in Austerlitz?

The longest trail networks: Beebe Hill Multiple Use Area, 13.8 miles; Harvey Mountain State Forest, 8.4 miles; Harris Conservation Area, 1.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Austerlitz is conserved land?

19% 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 Austerlitz’s trails?

Beebe Hill Multiple Use Area and Harvey Mountain State Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Is there public land near Austerlitz?

46,346 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Austerlitz or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 3,527 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Austerlitz have?

Ahead of 82% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Austerlitz 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 →