Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Cape Vincent

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Grenadier Island SchoolhouseGrenadier Island Schoolhouse · Photo: Grenadier1812 · CC BY 2.5
B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Cape Vincent

Cape Vincent has 97 acres of parks, 38 for every 1,000 residents

9% of Cape Vincent’s land is conserved, about 3,396 acres. The biggest trail networks: Ashland Flats Wildlife Management Area (0.6 mi). 58% of residents live within a half mile of a park.

Ahead of 69% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Conserved land
9%
3,396 acres · of 56.3 sq mi of land
Trails
17 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
97 ac
38 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
58%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
351 ft
Burnt Rock

What kind of outdoors town is Cape Vincent?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Land that stays wild9% of the land is conserved; a typical New York town, 5%.History along the way32 places on the National Register.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Cape Vincent have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Cape Vincent is ahead of 69% 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 Cape Vincent’s overall grade.
Conserved land9% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (17 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land38 acres of park per 1,000 residents (97 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home58% 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 69%
LessMore

Water is 37% of Cape Vincent’s area (34 of 90 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 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.

1234
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 Ashland Flats WMA, with 0.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Ashland Flats Wildlife Management Area

Nature preserve
246 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗

Cedar Point State Park

Managed by New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
45 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗

Recreation Park

Park
12 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Lake Ontario Waterway Access

Park
12 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
All 6 parks & preserves
Ashland Flats Wildlife Management Area246 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
Recreation Park12 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Directions
Cape Vincent Village Green2 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Cedar Point State Park45 acres · New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
Lake Ontario Waterway Access12 acres
Burnham Point State Park11 acres · New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
Who protects it

3,396 conserved acres

9% of Cape Vincent’s land. Water is left out: Cape Vincent has 56.3 square miles of land and 33.5 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Cape Vincent’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Land trusts & nonprofits5,915 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)451 ac
State conservation263 ac
Other state land149 ac
State parks57 ac
Town or city13 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government1 ac
Conservation Easement · 4,606 acOther Easement · 1,193 acPrivate Conservation · 482 acState Resource Management Area · 400 acUnknown Easement · 85 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2,431 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 150 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Thousand Islands Land Trust Land
Private Conservation
Land trusts & nonprofits482Closed
Ashland Flats Wma
State Resource Management Area
State conservation251Open
Cape Vincent State Correctional Facility
State Resource Management Area
Other state land117Open
Cedar Point State Park
State Park
State parks45Open
Cape Vincent State Fisheries Research Station
State Resource Management Area
Other state land32Open
Lake Ontario Waterway Access
State Recreation Area
State conservation12Open
Burnham Point State Park
State Park
State parks11Open
Cape Vincent Village of Land
Local Park
Town or city8Unknown
Cape Vincent Town of Land
Local Park
Town or city5Unknown
Cape Vincent Village Lands
Local Resource Management Area
Other or Unknown Local Government1Open
Things to do

10 places to go in Cape Vincent

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Peaks in Cape Vincent
Burnt Rock351 ft elevation
Directions
Indian Hill338 ft elevation
Directions
Trails & water

6 named trails

Named trails
Carleton Island Road 22.4 mi
Carleton Island Road12.2 mi
Grenadier Island Road 12.2 mi
Fox Island Road 71.2 mi
Grenadier Island Road 30.9 mi
Carleton Island Road 10.5 mi
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
7Baseball
4Tennis
2Basketball
2Football
2Soccer
1Hockey rinks

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

32 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 2 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.

History →
Vincent LeRay HouseBuilding · listed 1973
About it
Tibbetts Point LightBuilding · listed 1984
About it
Aubertine BuildingBuilding · listed 1985
About it
Cornelius Sacket HouseBuilding · listed 1985
About it
Duvillard MillBuilding · listed 1985
About it
E. K. Burnham HouseBuilding · listed 1985
About it
General Sacket HouseBuilding · listed 1985
About it
James Buckley HouseBuilding · listed 1985
About it
John Borland HouseBuilding · listed 1985
About it
Otis Starkey HouseBuilding · listed 1985
About it
Roxy HotelBuilding · listed 1985
About it
St. John's Episcopal ChurchBuilding · listed 1985
About it

20 more on the History page.

When to get out

The best walking months in Cape Vincent: 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.210.411.813.414.715.515.214.012.410.99.68.9
High (°F)283040536675807871584634
Rain (in)3.32.42.63.43.13.53.13.43.64.23.53.4

February is the driest month (2.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 4.2 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Cape Vincent →

Next door

Cape Vincent and its neighbors

Cape Vincent has the second most mapped trails of the 3 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Clayton32 miCape Vincent17 miLyme1.6 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Cape Vincent9%0.33858%B+
Lyme14%under 0.147150%B
Clayton14%0.426940%A−

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Cape Vincent

Where can I hike in Cape Vincent?

The longest trail networks: Ashland Flats Wildlife Management Area, 0.6 miles; Recreation Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Cape Vincent is conserved land?

9% 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 Cape Vincent’s trails?

Ashland Flats Wildlife Management Area and Cedar Point State Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Is there public land near Cape Vincent?

9,868 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Cape Vincent or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 499 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Cape Vincent have?

Ahead of 69% 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 Cape Vincent neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →