Wright Park
Managed by City Of Dunkirk
24 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Photo: Ken Winters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers · Public domainB+Outdoors
Outdoors in Dunkirk
5% of Dunkirk’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. 5% of Dunkirk’s land is conserved, about 160 acres. 196 acres are parks and preserves, 16 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 74% of U.S. towns · #309 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
160 acres · of 4.5 sq mi of land
Trails
1.3 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
196 ac
16 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
4.1 mi
1.1 mi lanes · 0.8 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Dunkirk?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Dunkirk have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Dunkirk is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns, #309 of 758 in New York. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Dunkirk’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land16 acres of park per 1,000 residents (196 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13BParks 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 74%
LessMore
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 59%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B 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 Wright Park, with 0.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Point Gratiot Park
Managed by City of Dunkirk
56 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Lake Erie Fisheries Research Unit
Nature preserve
5 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
All 5 parks & preserves
Wright Park24 acres · 0.4 mi of trail · City Of Dunkirk
Washington Park6 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
DirectionsLake Erie Fisheries Research Unit5 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsMemorial Park5 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · City of Dunkirk
DirectionsPoint Gratiot Park56 acres · City of Dunkirk
DirectionsWho protects it
160 conserved acres
5% of Dunkirk’s land. Who manages Dunkirk’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city225 ac
State conservation7 ac
Regional agency3 ac
Local Park · 215 acLocal Recreation Area · 7 acState Other or Unknown · 6 acLocal Resource Management Area · 4 acLocal Other or Unknown · 3 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1 acre is a conservation easement, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 11 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| City Of Dunkirk Land Local Park | Town or city | 119 | Unknown |
| Point Gratiot Park Local Park | Town or city | 58 | Open |
| Wright Park Local Park | Town or city | 24 | Open |
| Beach Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 7 | Open |
| Dunkirk Fish Hatchery State Other or Unknown | State conservation | 6 | Restricted |
| Washington Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Memorial Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Dunkirk City Lands Local Resource Management Area | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| City School District Land Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 3 | Unknown |
Things to do
9 places to go in Dunkirk
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Dunkirk
Playgrounds in Dunkirk
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Dunkirk
4 boat launches without a name on the map.
Biking & sports
4.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.1 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
0.8 mi
off-road bike paths
2.2 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
10Baseball
6Tennis
2Pickleball
2Basketball
1Skate park
1Volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →4 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 12 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Dunkirk: May to 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 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 33 | 35 | 43 | 55 | 67 | 75 | 80 | 79 | 72 | 61 | 49 | 39 |
| Rain (in) | 2.6 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 3.3 | 3.3 |
February is the driest month (2.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 4.1 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Dunkirk →
Questions about parks and trails in Dunkirk
Where can I hike in Dunkirk?
The longest trail networks: Wright Park, 0.4 miles; Washington Park, 0.3 miles; Lake Erie Fisheries Research Unit, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Dunkirk is conserved land?
5% 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 Dunkirk’s trails?
Wright Park and Washington Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Dunkirk?
4.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.1 of painted or protected lanes, 0.8 of off-road paths and 2.2 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Dunkirk?
3,758 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Dunkirk or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 196 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Dunkirk have?
Ahead of 74% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #309 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 Dunkirk 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 →