Charles E. Baker State Forest
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
7,546 acres54.3 mi of trail
Truck Trail 13Horse Trail 17Horse Trail 26Truck Trail 7+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
AOutdoors
Outdoors in Brookfield
Brookfield has 12,125 acres of parks, 5,640 for every 1,000 residents
24% of Brookfield’s land is conserved, about 12,097 acres. 62 miles of mapped trail cross Brookfield, 0.8 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Charles E. Baker State Forest (54.3 mi), Brookfield Railroad State Forest (5 mi).
Ahead of 86% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
24%
12,097 acres · of 77.8 sq mi of land
Trails
62 mi
0.8 per sq mi of land
Park land
12,125 ac
5,640 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
30%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,890 ft
Ritz Hill
Lakes & rivers
5
What kind of outdoors town is Brookfield?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Brookfield have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Brookfield is ahead of 86% 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 Brookfield’s overall grade.
Conserved land24% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (62 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land5,640 acres of park per 1,000 residents (12,125 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home30% 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 86%
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.
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 Charles E. Baker State Forest, with 54.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Brookfield Railroad State Forest
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
841 acres5 mi of trail
Horse Trail 36Horse Trail 33Horse Trail 35Horse Trail 34
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Beaver Creek State Forest
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
3,249 acres0.4 mi of trail
Horse Trail 37
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Gorton Lake State Forest
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
286 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
12,097 conserved acres
24% of Brookfield’s land. Who manages Brookfield’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation12,029 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)64 ac
Town or city3 ac
State Conservation Area · 12,029 acConservation Easement · 64 acLocal Park · 3 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 64 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charles E. Baker State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 7,607 | Open |
| Beaver Creek State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 3,291 | Open |
| Brookfield Railroad State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 844 | Open |
| Gorton Lake State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 287 | Open |
| Town of Brookfield Land Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Unknown |
Things to do
13 places to go in Brookfield
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Brookfield
Ritz Hill1,890 ft elevation
DirectionsQuaker Hill1,864 ft elevation · In Charles E. Baker State Forest
DirectionsYork Hill1,847 ft elevation
DirectionsBeaver Hill1,841 ft elevation
DirectionsTurkey Hill1,827 ft elevation
DirectionsGrassy Hill1,821 ft elevation · In Charles E. Baker State Forest
DirectionsGorton Hill1,785 ft elevation
DirectionsButton Hill1,765 ft elevation
Directions2 more peaks
Moscow Hill1,759 ft elevation · In Charles E. Baker State Forest
DirectionsWitter Hill1,745 ft elevation
DirectionsCampgrounds in Brookfield
Cherry Ridge Camping AreaIn Charles E. Baker State Forest · NYDEC
DirectionsMoscow Hill Assembly AreaIn Charles E. Baker State Forest · NYDEC
DirectionsMoscow Hill Horse CampIn Charles E. Baker State Forest · NYDEC
DirectionsTrails & water
25 named trails and 5 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Horses · 58.2 mi
Truck Trail 133.2 mi
Horse Trail 172.6 mi
Horse Trail 262.5 mi
Horse Trail 152.2 mi
Truck Trail 12.2 mi
Truck Trail 72.2 mi
Horse Trail 212.2 mi
Horse Trail 312.1 mi
Truck Trail 81.7 mi
Horse Trail 61.5 mi
15 more trails
Truck Trail 12
1.5 miHorse Trail 19
1.5 miHorse Trail 2
1.3 miHorse Trail 36
1.3 miHorse Trail 11
1.3 miTruck Trail 4
1.3 miHorse Trail 9
1.3 miHorse Trail 33
1.1 miLedges Trail
1.1 miTruck Trail 14
1.0 miMorrow Road - TT9
1.0 miHorse Trail 30
1.0 miHorse Trail 16
1.0 miHorse Trail 28
1.0 miTruck Trail 2
0.9 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
4Baseball
2Soccer
1Tennis
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).
Wheeler House ComplexBuilding · listed 1983
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Brookfield: 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) | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 29 | 31 | 39 | 53 | 66 | 73 | 77 | 76 | 69 | 57 | 44 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 3.3 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.6 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 3.7 | 3.8 |
February is the driest month (2.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 77 °F). 4.9 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Brookfield →
Next door
Brookfield and its neighbors
Brookfield has the most mapped trails of the 8 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Brookfield62 miSangerfield18 miBridgewater15 miHamilton6.8 miColumbus4.3 miMadison3.6 miPlainfield3.0 miEdmeston1.9 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brookfield | 24% | 0.8 | 5,640 | 30% | A |
| Plainfield | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Edmeston | 2% | under 0.1 | 26 | 18% | C |
| Columbus | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Hamilton | 2% | 0.2 | 51 | 60% | B− |
| Madison | 1% | 0.1 | 4 | 5% | D |
| Sangerfield | 10% | 0.6 | 733 | 57% | A− |
| Bridgewater | 11% | 0.6 | 1,319 | 9% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Brookfield
Where can I hike in Brookfield?
The longest trail networks: Charles E. Baker State Forest, 54.3 miles; Brookfield Railroad State Forest, 5 miles; Beaver Creek State Forest, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Brookfield is conserved land?
24% 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 Brookfield’s trails?
Charles E. Baker State Forest and Brookfield Railroad State Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Brookfield?
26,945 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Brookfield or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 12,125 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Brookfield have?
Ahead of 86% 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 Brookfield 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 →