Brasher State Forest
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
19,451 acres44.9 mi of trail
Wilson Truck TrailMcCarthy Truck TrailTt 901Ottawa Branch+1
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Dr. Buck-Stevens House · Photo: Elijlyn · CC BY-SA 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Brasher
Brasher has 19,672 acres of parks, 7,590 for every 1,000 residents
35% of Brasher’s land is conserved, about 20,378 acres. The biggest trail networks: Brasher State Forest (44.9 mi). 68 miles of mapped trail cross Brasher, 0.7 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns · #84 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Conserved land
35%
20,378 acres · of 91.1 sq mi of land
Trails
68 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
19,672 ac
7,590 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
69%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Brasher?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Brasher have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Brasher is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #84 of 758 in New York. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; park acres per resident rank highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Brasher’s overall grade.
Conserved land35% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (68 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land7,590 acres of park per 1,000 residents (19,672 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home69% 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 94%
LessMore
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 89%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A 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 Brasher State Forest, with 44.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Bombay State Forest
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
20,378 conserved acres
35% of Brasher’s land. Who manages Brasher’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation19,533 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)633 ac
County196 ac
Town or city20 ac
State Conservation Area · 19,533 acConservation Easement · 633 acLocal Conservation Area · 196 acLocal Park · 20 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 633 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 12 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brasher State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 19,531 | Open |
| Saint Lawrence County Lands Local Conservation Area | County | 196 | Restricted |
| Town of Brasher Land Local Park | Town or city | 20 | Unknown |
| Bombay State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 2 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Brasher
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Picnic areas in Brasher
1 picnic area without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
6 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Horses · 5.4 miUnpaved · 3.1 mi
Tt 9012.3 mi
Wilson Truck Trail2.1 mi
McCarthy Truck Trail1.6 mi
Ottawa Branch0.9 mi
Kenhann Trail0.9 mi
Tt 11300.8 mi
Lakes & 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
3Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Dr. Buck-Stevens HouseBuilding · listed 1982
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Brasher: May and August
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) | 9.1 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 25 | 28 | 38 | 53 | 68 | 76 | 81 | 79 | 71 | 58 | 44 | 32 |
| Rain (in) | 2.4 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 3.9 | 2.9 | 2.6 |
February is the driest month (2.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 3.9 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Brasher →
Next door
Brasher and its neighbors
Brasher has the most mapped trails of the 8 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Brasher68 miStockholm29 miMassena19 miBombay11 miMoira9.8 miNorfolk8.2 miLawrence7.6 miWinthrop1.1 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brasher | 35% | 0.7 | 7,590 | 69% | A |
| Lawrence | 1% | 0.2 | 15 | 22% | C |
| Massena | 11% | 0.4 | 233 | 81% | A |
| Moira | 5% | 0.2 | 223 | 18% | B |
| Bombay | 13% | 0.3 | 1,914 | 22% | B+ |
| Norfolk | 7% | 0.1 | 551 | 45% | B |
| Stockholm | 10% | 0.3 | 1,206 | 24% | B+ |
| Winthrop | — 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 Brasher
Where can I hike in Brasher?
The longest trail networks: Brasher State Forest, 44.9 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Brasher is conserved land?
35% 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 Brasher’s trails?
Brasher State Forest and Bombay State Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Brasher?
43,356 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Brasher or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 19,672 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Brasher have?
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #84 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 Brasher 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 →