Hudson Highlands State Park
Managed by New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
7 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Cold Spring
22% of Cold Spring’s land is conserved, and virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 2.4 miles of mapped trail cross Cold Spring, 4.0 per square mile of land. 22% of Cold Spring’s land is conserved, about 82 acres.
Ahead of 96% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
22%
82 acres · of 0.6 sq mi of land
Trails
2.4 mi
4.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
20 ac
11 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.5 mi
What kind of outdoors town is Cold Spring?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Land that stays wild22% of the land is conserved; a typical New York town, 5%.A trail town4.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, among the top 1% of U.S. towns.Parks close to homeVirtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park.History along the way3 places on the National Register.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Cold Spring have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Cold Spring is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Cold Spring’s overall grade.
Conserved land22% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%ATrails4.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land11 acres of park per 1,000 residents (20 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · NY 70% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 96%
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
McConville Park
Managed by The Village of Cold Spring
1 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 5 parks & preserves
Dockside Park5 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsMcConville Park1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · The Village of Cold Spring
DirectionsHudson Highlands State Park7 acres · New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
DirectionsMayor's Park4 acres
DirectionsFoundry Dock Park1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
82 conserved acres
22% of Cold Spring’s land. Who manages Cold Spring’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits172 ac
Town or city14 ac
Other state land9 ac
State parks7 ac
Private Park · 104 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 50 acConservation Easement · 19 acLocal Park · 14 acState Park · 9 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 9 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 10 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Point Foundry Preserve Private Park | Land trusts & nonprofits | 104 | Closed |
| Scenic Hudson Lands Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 50 | Closed |
| Dockside State Park State Park | Other state land | 9 | Open |
| Village Of Cold Spring Land Local Park | Town or city | 8 | Unknown |
| Hudson Highlands State Park Preserve State Conservation Area | State parks | 7 | Open |
| Mayor'S Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Mcconville Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
7 places to go in Cold Spring
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Cold Spring
1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in Cold Spring
Tiny Tots ParkIn McConville Park
DirectionsPlus 2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Cold Spring
Dockside Park AccessIn Dockside Park
DirectionsFoundry Dock Park Boat LaunchIn Foundry Dock Park
DirectionsScenic views in Cold Spring
1 scenic view without a name on the map.
Trails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Unpaved · 0.5 mi
Old Forge Trail0.4 mi
Biking & sports
0.5 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.5 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
4Baseball
2Tennis
1Basketball
1Soccer
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Cold Spring: April 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) | 9.5 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 36 | 39 | 47 | 60 | 70 | 79 | 84 | 82 | 74 | 63 | 51 | 40 |
| Rain (in) | 3.4 | 2.7 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 3.7 | 4.1 |
February is the driest month (2.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.6 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Cold Spring →
Next door
Cold Spring and its neighbors
Cold Spring has the second most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold Spring | 22% | 4.0 | 11 | 99%+ | A+ |
| Nelsonville | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Cold Spring
Where can I hike in Cold Spring?
The longest trail networks: Dockside Park, 0.2 miles; McConville Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Cold Spring is conserved land?
22% 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 Cold Spring’s trails?
Hudson Highlands State Park and Dockside Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Cold Spring?
0.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.5 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Cold Spring?
59,451 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Cold Spring or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 20 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Cold Spring have?
Ahead of 96% 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 Cold Spring 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 →