Jenksville State Forest
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
981 acres7.4 mi of trail
B3R5Y1Y4+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Lyman P. Akins House · Photo: Maddmonkey · CC BY-SA 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Berkshire
Berkshire has 1,022 acres of parks, 809 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Jenksville State Forest (7.4 mi). 11% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 5% of Berkshire’s land is conserved, about 1,021 acres.
Ahead of 59% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
1,021 acres · of 30.3 sq mi of land
Trails
9.3 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,022 ac
809 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
11%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,673 ft
Nixon Hill
Lakes & rivers
3
What kind of outdoors town is Berkshire?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Berkshire have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Berkshire is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Berkshire’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (9 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land809 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,022 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home11% 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 59%
LessMore
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
The longest trail network is Jenksville State Forest, with 7.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Greenwood Park
Park
10 acres0.2 mi of trail
Outer Loop
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
1,021 conserved acres
5% of Berkshire’s land. Who manages Berkshire’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation985 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)21 ac
County9 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits6 ac
State Conservation Area · 985 acConservation Easement · 21 acLocal Park · 9 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 6 acLocal Conservation Area · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 21 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 7 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jenksville State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 984 | Open |
| County Of Broome Land Local Park | County | 9 | Unknown |
| Speedsville Athletic Association Lands Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 5 | Closed |
| Berkshire Athletic Field Lands Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 2 | Closed |
| Turkey Hill State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 1 | Open |
| Tompkins County Lands Local Conservation Area | County | 1 | Restricted |
Things to do
1 places to go in Berkshire
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Berkshire
Nixon Hill1,673 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
15 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 7.7 miHorses · 7.7 miUnpaved · 8.1 mi
B31.6 mi
R51.1 mi
Y41.1 mi
Y11.0 mi
Y30.7 mi
B60.4 mi
B20.3 mi
R30.3 mi
B50.3 mi
B40.3 mi
5 more trails
R4
0.3 miOuter Loop
0.2 miR1
0.1 miR6
0.1 miY2
0.1 miLakes & rivers tap for directions
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
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →14 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Belcher Family Homestead and FarmBuilding · listed 1984
About itBerkshire Village Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1984
About itCalvin A. Buffington HouseBuilding · listed 1984
About itDeodatus Royce HouseBuilding · listed 1984
About itEast Berkshire United Methodist ChurchBuilding · listed 1984
About itFirst Congregational ChurchBuilding · listed 1984
About itJ. Ball HouseBuilding · listed 1984
About itLebbeus Ford HouseBuilding · listed 1984
About itLevi Ball HouseBuilding · listed 1984
About itLyman P. Akins HouseBuilding · listed 1984
About itNathaniel Bishop Collins HouseBuilding · listed 1984
About itStephen Ball HouseBuilding · listed 1984
About it2 more on the History page.
When to get out
The best walking months in Berkshire: May and July
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) | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 31 | 33 | 42 | 55 | 67 | 76 | 80 | 78 | 71 | 59 | 46 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 2.9 | 2.4 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 4.6 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 3.2 | 3.2 |
February is the driest month (2.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 4.6 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Berkshire →
Next door
Berkshire and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berkshire | 5% | 0.3 | 809 | 11% | B |
| Caroline | 22% | 0.6 | 2,138 | 30% | A− |
| Candor | 3% | 0.1 | 284 | 25% | B− |
| Richford | 26% | 0.3 | 7,708 | 65% | A |
| Newark Valley | 4% | 0.3 | 341 | 40% | B |
| Lisle | 2% | under 0.1 | 197 | 28% | C+ |
| Nanticoke | 3% | 0.2 | 444 | 16% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Berkshire
Where can I hike in Berkshire?
The longest trail networks: Jenksville State Forest, 7.4 miles; Greenwood Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Berkshire is conserved land?
5% 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 Berkshire’s trails?
Jenksville State Forest and Greenwood Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Berkshire?
32,913 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Berkshire or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,022 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Berkshire have?
Ahead of 59% 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 Berkshire 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 →