Chazy Highlands State Forest
Nature preserve
5,479 acres4.5 mi of trail
Lyon Mountain TrailLake Placid Branch
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto Lyon Mountain Parking areaWebsite ↗
Photo: Doug Kerr from now in Binghamton, NY · CC BY-SA 2.0A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Dannemora
Dannemora has 7,294 acres of parks, 2,206 for every 1,000 residents
33% of Dannemora’s land is conserved, about 12,302 acres. The biggest trail networks: Chazy Highlands State Forest (4.5 mi). 88% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 95% of U.S. towns · #67 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Conserved land
33%
12,302 acres · of 59.1 sq mi of land
Trails
33 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
7,294 ac
2,206 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
88%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
2,336 ft
Topknot Mountain
Lakes & rivers
5
2 beaches · 1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Dannemora?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Dannemora have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Dannemora is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns, #67 of 758 in New York. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; park acres per resident rank highest, trail miles lowest.
A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Dannemora’s overall grade.
Conserved land33% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (33 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land2,206 acres of park per 1,000 residents (7,294 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home88% 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 95%
LessMore
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 91%
Water is 10% of Dannemora’s area (7 of 66 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 29%.
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 Chazy Highlands State Forest, with 4.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Chazy Highlands Wild Forest
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
279 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Dunkin's Reserve State Forest
Nature preserve
1,365 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Chazy Highlands Wildlife Management Area
Nature preserve
990 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
12,302 conserved acres
33% of Dannemora’s land. Water is left out: Dannemora has 59.1 square miles of land and 6.8 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Dannemora’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation9,322 ac
Other state land3,183 ac
Town or city40 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits10 ac
State Conservation Area · 7,139 acState Other or Unknown · 3,183 acState Resource Management Area · 1,216 acForest Stewardship Easement · 712 acUnknown Easement · 251 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 710 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 9 of 19 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chazy Highlands State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 5,715 | Open |
| New York State Lands State Other or Unknown | Other state land | 3,183 | Unknown |
| Dunkin'S Reserve State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 1,371 | Open |
| Chazy Highlands Wma State Resource Management Area | State conservation | 998 | Open |
| Chazy Highlands Wild Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 272 | Open |
| Town of Dannemora Land Local Park | Town or city | 36 | Unknown |
| Lyon Mountain Citizens Youth League Lands Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 10 | Closed |
| Village Of Dannemora Land Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Unknown |
| Town of Beekmantown State Resource Management Area | State conservation | 2 | Open |
Things to do
8 places to go in Dannemora
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Dannemora
2 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Dannemora
Chazy Lake Boat Launch
DirectionsFishing spots in Dannemora
Chazy Lake Waterway Access
DirectionsPeaks in Dannemora
Topknot Mountain2,336 ft elevation
DirectionsDannemora Mountain2,241 ft elevation
DirectionsBirch Hill2,126 ft elevation
DirectionsParsons Knob2,110 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
2 named trails and 5 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 10.9 miUnpaved · 19.7 mi
Lyon Mountain Trail3.0 mi
Lake Placid Branch2.1 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
5Baseball
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Dannemora: May, August and 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 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 24 | 27 | 36 | 49 | 63 | 71 | 76 | 73 | 66 | 53 | 40 | 29 |
| Rain (in) | 2.7 | 2.3 | 2.8 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 4.6 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
February is the driest month (2.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 76 °F). 4.6 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Dannemora →
Next door
Dannemora and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dannemora | 33% | 0.6 | 2,206 | 88% | A+ |
| Saranac | 34% | 0.7 | 4,440 | 31% | A |
| Bellmont | 55% | 0.5 | 6,220 | 23% | A− |
| Beekmantown | 7% | 0.2 | 402 | 13% | B |
| Ellenburg | 24% | 0.1 | 5,409 | 14% | B+ |
| Altona | 12% | 0.4 | 1,331 | 23% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Dannemora
Where can I hike in Dannemora?
The longest trail networks: Chazy Highlands State Forest, 4.5 miles; Chazy Highlands Wild Forest, 0.4 miles; Dunkin's Reserve State Forest, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Dannemora is conserved land?
33% 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 Dannemora’s trails?
Chazy Highlands State Forest and Chazy Highlands Wild Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Dannemora?
61,872 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Dannemora or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 8,519 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Dannemora have?
Ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #67 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 Dannemora 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 →