William Smith Ingham House · Photo: Doncram · CC BY-SA 4.0Cato has 77 acres of parks, 30 for every 1,000 residents
1.3 miles of mapped trail cross Cato. 41% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 28% of U.S. towns. What drives it
How much outdoors does Cato have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Cato is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
Water is 7% of Cato’s area (3 of 36 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read under 1%.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
76 conserved acres
under 1% of Cato’s land. Water is left out: Cato has 33.6 square miles of land and 2.5 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Cato’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 3 of 5 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cayuga County Real Property R Land Local Park | County | 59 | Unknown |
| Erie Canal State Recreation Area | Other state land | 13 | Open |
| Cato Village Of Land Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Unknown |
| Village of Merdian Land Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Unknown |
| Cato Village Lands Local Resource Management Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 1 | Open |
2 places to go in Cato
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
1 campground without a name on the map.
4 lakes & rivers
1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
The best walking months in Cato: 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) | 9.3 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 32 | 33 | 42 | 56 | 68 | 77 | 81 | 80 | 73 | 60 | 48 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 3.0 | 2.4 | 2.9 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 3.5 | 3.4 |
February is the driest month (2.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 4.2 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Cato →
Cato and its neighbors
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Questions about parks and trails in Cato
How much of Cato is conserved land?
under 1% 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.
Is there public land near Cato?
15,061 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Cato or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 77 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Cato have?
Ahead of 28% 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 Cato neighbors.
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 →