Dundas Castle · Photo: Peter Bond from Philadelphia, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0

Outdoors in Colchester

Colchester has 22,404 acres of parks, 13,079 for every 1,000 residents

37% of Colchester’s land is conserved, about 32,115 acres. The biggest trail networks: Delaware Wild Forest (34.1 mi), Bear Spring Mountain Wildlife Management Area (18.7 mi), Colchester Forest Preserve Detached Parcel (1.1 mi). 78 miles of mapped trail cross Colchester, 0.6 per square mile of land.

Ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Conserved land

37%

32,115 acres · of 136.8 sq mi of land

Trails

78 mi

0.6 per sq mi of land

Park land

22,404 ac

13,079 acres per 1,000 residents

Near a park

57%

of residents within ½ mile

Highest peak

2,940 ft

East Mary Smith Hill

Lakes & rivers

What kind of outdoors town is Colchester?

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

Room to roam13,079 acres of park per 1,000 residents; the typical U.S. town has 13.Land that stays wild37% of the land is conserved; a typical New York town, 5%.History along the way3 places on the National Register.

Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Colchester have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Colchester is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.

OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Colchester’s overall grade.

Conserved land37% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%A⁺Trails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (78 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B⁺Park land13,079 acres of park per 1,000 residents (22,404 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13A⁺Parks close to home57% 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 90%

LessMore

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 Delaware Wild Forest, with 34.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Delaware Wild Forest

Nature preserve

21,245 acres34.1 mi of trail

Campbell Mountain TrailPelnor Hollow TrailMud Pond TrailHog Hollow Trail+1

Dog rules not recorded

Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗

Bear Spring Mountain Wildlife Management Area

Nature preserve

4,462 acres18.7 mi of trail

State Hill TrailSpruce Grove SpurSwitchback SpurBox of Rocks+1

Dog rules not recorded

Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗

Colchester Forest Preserve Detached Parcel

Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

763 acres1.1 mi of trail

State Hill Trail

Dog rules not recorded

No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗

Tomannex State Forest

Nature preserve

13 acres0.7 mi of trail

Dog rules not recorded

No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗

All 19 parks & preserves

Delaware Wild Forest21,245 acres · 34.1 mi of trail

Directions

Bear Spring Mountain Wildlife Management Area4,462 acres · 18.7 mi of trail

Directions

Colchester Forest Preserve Detached Parcel763 acres · 1.1 mi of trail · New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

Tomannex State Forest13 acres · 0.7 mi of trail

Flynn Brook Unit1,113 acres · New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Water Supply

Raynor Brook Unit350 acres · New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Water Supply

Murphy Hill Unit244 acres · New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Water Supply

Delaware County Scenic Resource211 acres

Cat Hollow Unit167 acres · New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Water Supply

Vinci Brook Unit93 acres · New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Water Supply

Murphy Hill State Forest68 acres

Delaware Forest Preserve Detached Parcel66 acres

Huntley Hollow Unit44 acres · New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Water Supply

Basin Clove Unit43 acres · New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Water Supply

Miller Hollow Unit21 acres · New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Water Supply

Beaverkill West Unit11 acres · New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Water Supply

Horton Brook Unit7 acres · New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Water Supply

Andes Forest Preserve Detached Parcel1 acres · New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

Covered Bridge Park1 acres · Town of Colchester

Directions

Who protects it

32,115 conserved acres

37% of Colchester’s land. Who manages Colchester’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

State conservation28,032 ac

Land trusts & nonprofits2,260 ac

Town or city2,223 ac

Regional Water Districts3 ac

Other or Unknown Local Government1 ac

State Conservation Area · 22,244 acState Resource Management Area · 4,472 acOther Easement · 2,360 acLocal Other or Unknown · 2,015 acRecreation or Education Easement · 659 ac

Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2,850 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 24 of 81 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels

Parcel (PAD-US)	Managed by	Acres	Public access
Delaware Wild Forest State Conservation Area	State conservation	21,321	Open
Bear Spring Mountain Wma State Resource Management Area	State conservation	4,472	Open
Flynn Brook Local Other or Unknown	Town or city	1,132	Unknown
Pepacton Fishing Access Area Local Other or Unknown	Town or city	876	Unknown
Colchester Fp Detached Parcel State Conservation Area	State conservation	769	Open
Delaware County Scenic Resource State Other or Unknown	State conservation	215	Open
New York City Watershed Watershed Protection Area	Town or city	169	Closed
Beaverkill Arcadia Private Conservation	Land trusts & nonprofits	112	Closed
Murphy Hill State Forest State Conservation Area	State conservation	69	Open
Delaware Fp Detached Parcel State Conservation Area	State conservation	67	Open

5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.

Things to do

54 places to go in Colchester

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

Peaks in Colchester

East Mary Smith Hill2,940 ft elevation · In Delaware Wild Forest

Directions

Brock Mountain2,759 ft elevation · In Delaware Wild Forest

Directions

Cherry Ridge2,628 ft elevation · In Delaware Wild Forest

Directions

Cherry Ridge2,602 ft elevation · In Delaware Wild Forest

Directions

Brock Mountain2,513 ft elevation · In Delaware Wild Forest

Directions

Morton Hill2,510 ft elevation

Directions

Brock Mountain2,503 ft elevation · In Delaware Wild Forest

Directions

Bryden Hill2,487 ft elevation

Directions

6 more peaks

Rodgers Hill2,477 ft elevation · In Delaware Wild Forest

Directions

Brace Hill2,467 ft elevation

Directions

Fuller Hill2,464 ft elevation · In Delaware Wild Forest

Directions

Fork Mountain2,431 ft elevation · In Bear Spring Mountain Wildlife Management Area

Directions

Campbell Mountain2,352 ft elevation · In Delaware Wild Forest

Directions

Conklin Hill2,333 ft elevation

Directions

45 peaks are on OpenStreetMap in all; the list shows named ones from the first 30.

Trails & water

15 named trails and 13 lakes & rivers

Named trails

Open to bikes · 1.4 miHorses · 19.1 miUnpaved · 6.6 mi

Campbell Mountain Trail6.0 mi

Pelnor Hollow Trail4.3 mi

Mud Pond Trail3.9 mi

Hog Hollow Trail3.7 mi

State Hill Trail3.4 mi

Spruce Grove Spur1.9 mi

Trout Pond Trail1.9 mi

Snowmobile Trail (FLT)1.8 mi

Mary Smith Hill Trail1.6 mi

Snowmobile Trail1.5 mi

5 more trails

Box of Rocks

1.1 mi

Switchback Spur

0.9 mi

Snowmobile Trail (Blue)

0.9 mi

Little Spring Brook Trail

0.6 mi

Ski Trail

0.1 mi

Lakes & rivers tap for directions

Cables Lake (Trout Pond)Charlotte's Pond Huggins Lake Lake Mimi Little Edwards Pond Mountain Lake Mud Pond Quinn Lakereservoir Stuart Lake Beaver Kill Downs Brook East Branch Delaware River Wilson Hollow Brook

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

3Soccer

2Tennis

1Basketball

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

History along the way

3 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 3 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.

History →

Downsville Covered BridgeStructure · listed 1999

About it

Dundas CastleDistrict · listed 2001

About it

Union Free SchoolBuilding · listed 2004

About it

When to get out

The best walking months in Colchester: May, July 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)	9.4	10.5	11.8	13.3	14.5	15.2	14.9	13.9	12.4	11.0	9.7	9.1
High (°F)	30	32	40	53	65	72	76	75	68	57	45	34
Rain (in)	3.7	3.1	3.6	4.2	4.4	5.4	4.9	5.0	5.0	4.9	3.9	4.2

February is the driest month (3.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 76 °F). 5.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Colchester →

Next door

Colchester and its neighbors

Colchester has the most mapped trails of the 6 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Colchester78 mi Hancock46 mi Rockland42 mi Andes35 mi Walton30 mi Hamden4.0 mi

Town	Conserved of land	Trail mi per sq mi	Park acres per 1,000	Near a park ½ mile	Outdoors
Colchester	37%	0.6	13,079	57%	A
Hancock	3%	0.3	1,006	40%	B
Rockland	25%	0.4	2,997	45%	A⁻
Andes	29%	0.3	9,650	17%	A⁻
Hamden	9%	0.1	347	17%	B⁻
Walton	11%	0.3	48	55%	B⁺

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

Questions about parks and trails in Colchester

Where can I hike in Colchester?

The longest trail networks: Delaware Wild Forest, 34.1 miles; Bear Spring Mountain Wildlife Management Area, 18.7 miles; Colchester Forest Preserve Detached Parcel, 1.1 miles; Tomannex State Forest, 0.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Colchester is conserved land?

37% 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 Colchester’s trails?

Delaware Wild Forest and Bear Spring Mountain Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Is there public land near Colchester?

84,757 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Colchester or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 27,112 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Colchester have?

Ahead of 90% 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 Colchester 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 →

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Colchester has 22,404 acres of parks, 13,079 for every 1,000 residents

What kind of outdoors town is Colchester?

How much outdoors does Colchester have?

Conserved land, trails & bike routes

Pick a walk

Delaware Wild Forest

Bear Spring Mountain Wildlife Management Area

Colchester Forest Preserve Detached Parcel

Tomannex State Forest

32,115 conserved acres

54 places to go in Colchester

15 named trails and 13 lakes & rivers

0.0 miles of bike routes

3 places on the National Register

The best walking months in Colchester: May, July and August

Colchester and its neighbors

Questions about parks and trails in Colchester

Trail talk

Where this page comes from