Downybrook Nature Reserve
Managed by Obi Land Trust
157 acres3.8 mi of trail
Downybrook Nature Preserve East Side TrailDownybrook
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailheadWebsite ↗
William Archer House · Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Brownville
Brownville has 190 acres of parks, 33 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Downybrook Nature Reserve (3.8 mi). 7% of Brownville’s land is conserved, about 2,692 acres. 4.1 miles of mapped trail cross Brownville, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 51% of U.S. towns · #538 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Conserved land
7%
2,692 acres · of 58.9 sq mi of land
Trails
4.1 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
190 ac
33 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
45%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
417 ft
Doanes Hill
Lakes & rivers
2
4 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Brownville?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Brownville have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Brownville is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns, #538 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 Brownville’s overall grade.
Conserved land7% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (4 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4CPark land33 acres of park per 1,000 residents (190 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home45% 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 51%
LessMore
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 29%
Water is 11% of Brownville’s area (7 of 66 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 6%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ 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 Downybrook Nature Reserve, with 3.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Perch River Wildlife Management Area
Nature preserve
1,666 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Dexter Marsh Wildlife Management Area
Nature preserve
401 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Brownville Wildlife Management Area
Nature preserve
234 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
All 5 parks & preserves
Downybrook Nature Reserve157 acres · 3.8 mi of trail · Obi Land Trust
DirectionsPerch River Wildlife Management Area1,666 acres
Dexter Marsh Wildlife Management Area401 acres
Brownville Wildlife Management Area234 acres
Dexter Memorial Park8 acres
Who protects it
2,692 conserved acres
7% of Brownville’s land. Water is left out: Brownville has 58.9 square miles of land and 6.9 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Brownville’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation2,313 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits717 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)39 ac
Town or city25 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government4 ac
Private owners1 ac
State Resource Management Area · 2,313 acPrivate Conservation · 717 acConservation Easement · 39 acLocal Park · 25 acLocal Resource Management Area · 4 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 39 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 28 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perch River Wma State Resource Management Area | State conservation | 1,673 | Open |
| Limerick Cedars Preserve Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 619 | Open |
| Dexter Marsh Wma State Resource Management Area | State conservation | 403 | Open |
| Brownville Wma State Resource Management Area | State conservation | 236 | Open |
| Jefferson County Alvar Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 98 | Closed |
| Dexter Village of Land Local Park | Town or city | 14 | Unknown |
| Glen Park Hydro-Electric Project Fishing Access Area Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Glen Park Village of Land Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Unknown |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Brownville Village Lands Local Resource Management Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 3 | Open |
3 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
9 places to go in Brownville
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Brownville
Dexter PlaygroundIn Dexter Memorial Park
DirectionsPlus 1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Brownville
4 boat launches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Peaks in Brownville
Doanes Hill417 ft elevation
DirectionsLuther Hill390 ft elevation
DirectionsSlaughter Hill367 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
2 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 3.8 miUnpaved · 3.8 mi
Downybrook Nature Preserve East Side Trail2.8 mi
Downybrook0.9 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
9Baseball
5Tennis
2Soccer
1Basketball
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →7 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Gen. Jacob Brown MansionBuilding · listed 1980
About itWilliam Archer HouseBuilding · listed 1980
About itArthur Walrath HouseBuilding · listed 1980
About itBrownville HotelBuilding · listed 1980
About itVogt HouseBuilding · listed 1980
About itSt. Paul's ChurchBuilding · listed 1996
About itDexter Universalist ChurchBuilding · listed 2003
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Brownville: May to 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) | 9.2 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 8.9 |
| High (°F) | 29 | 31 | 40 | 53 | 66 | 75 | 80 | 79 | 71 | 58 | 46 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 3.4 | 2.5 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 3.7 | 3.5 |
February is the driest month (2.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 4.5 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Brownville →
Next door
Brownville and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Clayton32 miHounsfield28 miOrleans12 miPamelia4.7 miBrownville4.1 miWatertown3.5 miLyme1.6 miDexter0.0 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brownville | 7% | 0.1 | 33 | 45% | B− |
| Lyme | 14% | under 0.1 | 471 | 50% | B |
| Hounsfield | 4% | 0.6 | 30 | 38% | B |
| Watertown | 1% | 0.1 | 19 | 20% | C |
| Dexter | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Pamelia | 9% | 0.1 | 1 | 11% | C |
| Clayton | 14% | 0.4 | 269 | 40% | A− |
| Orleans | 18% | 0.2 | 1,066 | 21% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Brownville
Where can I hike in Brownville?
The longest trail networks: Downybrook Nature Reserve, 3.8 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Brownville is conserved land?
7% 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 Brownville’s trails?
Downybrook Nature Reserve and Perch River Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Brownville?
22,090 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Brownville or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 2,134 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Brownville have?
Ahead of 51% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #538 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 Brownville 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 →