Anchor Diamond Park
Park
254 acres3.8 mi of trail
Stonewall Trail - blueOld-Field TrailHemlock Trail - yellowHawkwood Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Verbeck House · Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Ballston
Ballston has 369 acres of parks, 30 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Anchor Diamond Park (3.8 mi), Jenkins Park (1.2 mi), Ballston Creek Preserve (0.6 mi). 4% of Ballston’s land is conserved, about 817 acres. 6.4 miles of mapped trail cross Ballston, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 56% of U.S. towns · #495 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
817 acres · of 29.6 sq mi of land
Trails
6.4 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
369 ac
30 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
56%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.2 mi
2.2 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
1 boat launch
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Ballston have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Ballston is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns, #495 of 758 in New York. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Ballston’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (6 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land30 acres of park per 1,000 residents (369 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home56% of residents within a half mile of a park · NY 70% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 56%
LessMore
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 35%
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.
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 Anchor Diamond Park, with 3.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Jenkins Park
Park
43 acres1.2 mi of trail
Pine Forest Trail (Blue)Big Tree Trail (Red)
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Ballston Creek Preserve
Managed by Saratoga PLAN
29 acres0.6 mi of trail
Ballston Creek Preserve
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Ballston Lake Fire Department Memorial Park
Managed by Town of Ballston
12 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 6 parks & preserves
Anchor Diamond Park254 acres · 3.8 mi of trail
DirectionsJenkins Park43 acres · 1.2 mi of trail
Ballston Creek Preserve29 acres · 0.6 mi of trail · Saratoga PLAN
DirectionsBallston Lake Fire Department Memorial Park12 acres · Town of Ballston
DirectionsReita Park3 acres
Dog Park1 acres
Who protects it
817 conserved acres
4% of Ballston’s land. Who manages Ballston’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits1,117 ac
Town or city465 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government1 ac
Conservation Easement · 829 acLocal Park · 331 acAgricultural Easement · 253 acUnknown Easement · 134 acPrivate Conservation · 36 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 461 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. 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 by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Town Of Ballston Land Local Park | Town or city | 319 | Unknown |
| Saratoga PLAN Land Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 36 | Open |
| Jenkins Park Local Park | Town or city | 12 | Open |
| Ballston Town Lands Local Resource Management Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 1 | Open |
Things to do
7 places to go in Ballston
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Ballston
4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Ballston
Bridgewater Apartments Dog Park
DirectionsBoat launches in Ballston
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Waterfalls in Ballston
1 waterfall without a name on the map.
Trails & water
12 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 4.4 mi
Stonewall Trail - blue1.2 mi
Pine Forest Trail (Blue)0.8 mi
Old-Field Trail0.8 mi
Hemlock Trail - yellow0.7 mi
Ballston Creek Preserve0.4 mi
Big Tree Trail (Red)0.4 mi
Hawkwood Trail0.3 mi
Hawkwood Trail - white0.3 mi
Ancients Trail0.2 mi
Red Maple Trail0.2 mi
2 more trails
Ballston Bicycle Path
0.2 miConnector Trail - purple
0.1 miLakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
2.2 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.2 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
20Tennis
10Baseball
5Multi-sport
4Football
3Tracks
2Basketball
2Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Ballston: May, August 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) | 9.3 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.7 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 31 | 34 | 44 | 57 | 70 | 78 | 82 | 80 | 73 | 60 | 48 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 3.2 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 4.2 | 3.3 | 3.8 |
February is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.5 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Ballston →
Next door
Ballston and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Clifton Park55 miGlenville27 miMalta17 miMilton15 miBallston6.4 miCountry Knolls5.2 miCharlton0.5 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballston | 4% | 0.2 | 30 | 56% | B |
| Clifton Park | 11% | 1.1 | 66 | 96% | A |
| Charlton | 3% | under 0.1 | 29 | 25% | C |
| Malta | 10% | 0.6 | 51 | 62% | A− |
| Milton | 10% | 0.4 | 33 | 77% | A− |
| Country Knolls | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Glenville | 5% | 0.5 | 40 | 59% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Ballston
Where can I hike in Ballston?
The longest trail networks: Anchor Diamond Park, 3.8 miles; Jenkins Park, 1.2 miles; Ballston Creek Preserve, 0.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Ballston 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 Ballston’s trails?
Anchor Diamond Park and Jenkins Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Ballston?
2.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.2 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Ballston?
17,152 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Ballston or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 370 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Ballston have?
Ahead of 56% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #495 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 Ballston 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 →