Chazy Highlands Wild Forest
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
9,918 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Photo: עדירל · CC BY-SA 3.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Ellenburg
Ellenburg has 10,775 acres of parks, 5,409 for every 1,000 residents
24% of Ellenburg’s land is conserved, about 16,396 acres. 14% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 14 miles of mapped trail cross Ellenburg, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 67% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
24%
16,396 acres · of 106.6 sq mi of land
Trails
14 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
10,775 ac
5,409 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
14%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
2,589 ft
Ellenburg Mountain
Lakes & rivers
2
4 beaches · 1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Ellenburg?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Ellenburg have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Ellenburg is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Ellenburg’s overall grade.
Conserved land24% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (14 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4CPark land5,409 acres of park per 1,000 residents (10,775 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home14% of residents within a half mile of a park · NY 70% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 67%
LessMore
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
16,396 conserved acres
24% of Ellenburg’s land. Who manages Ellenburg’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation22,032 ac
Town or city5 ac
State Conservation Area · 10,738 acForest Stewardship Easement · 5,647 acUnknown Easement · 5,644 acLocal Park · 5 acState Recreation Area · 3 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 5,650 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 7 of 13 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chazy Highlands Wild Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 9,931 | Open |
| Moon Pond State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 782 | Open |
| Clinton Fp Detached Parcel State Conservation Area | State conservation | 25 | Open |
| Town Of Ellenburg Land Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Unknown |
| Upper Chateaugay Lake Boat Launch State Recreation Area | State conservation | 3 | Open |
Things to do
14 places to go in Ellenburg
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Ellenburg
Camp Chateaugay Beach
DirectionsPlus 3 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Playgrounds in Ellenburg
3 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Boat launches in Ellenburg
Upper Chateaugay Lake Boat Launch
DirectionsPeaks in Ellenburg
Ellenburg Mountain2,589 ft elevation · In Chazy Highlands Wild Forest
DirectionsPanther Hill2,369 ft elevation · In Chazy Highlands Wild Forest
DirectionsSpruce Hill2,244 ft elevation
DirectionsSanburn Hill1,883 ft elevation
DirectionsWest Hill1,864 ft elevation
DirectionsHazeltine Hill1,785 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 6.0 miUnpaved · 11.2 mi
Big House Path0.1 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
8Tennis
6Baseball
5Soccer
1Softball
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Ellenburg: 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) | 9.1 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 23 | 26 | 35 | 47 | 62 | 70 | 74 | 72 | 65 | 52 | 39 | 28 |
| Rain (in) | 2.9 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 4.9 | 4.6 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 4.8 | 3.2 | 3.2 |
February is the driest month (2.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 74 °F). 4.9 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Ellenburg →
Next door
Ellenburg 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ellenburg | 24% | 0.1 | 5,409 | 14% | B+ |
| Clinton | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Bellmont | 55% | 0.5 | 6,220 | 23% | A− |
| Altona | 12% | 0.4 | 1,331 | 23% | B+ |
| Dannemora | 33% | 0.6 | 2,206 | 88% | A+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Ellenburg
How much of Ellenburg is conserved land?
24% 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 Ellenburg’s trails?
Chazy Highlands Wild Forest and Moon Pond State Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Ellenburg?
49,585 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Ellenburg or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 10,775 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Ellenburg have?
Ahead of 67% 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 Ellenburg 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 →