Bare Hill Unique Area
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
94 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
DOutdoors
Outdoors in Gorham
Few parks or trails are on the map in Gorham
9 acres are parks and preserves, 2.1 per 1,000 residents. 1.8 miles of mapped trail cross Gorham. 29% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 13% of U.S. towns · #748 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
303 acres · of 48.8 sq mi of land
Trails
1.8 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
9 ac
2.1 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
29%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,168 ft
Harkness Hill
Lakes & rivers
1
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Gorham have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Gorham is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns, #748 of 758 in New York. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; conserved land comes closest.
D
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Gorham’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land2.1 acres of park per 1,000 residents (9 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home29% 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 13%
LessMore
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)#748 of 758
Water is 8% of Gorham’s area (4 of 53 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 1%.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Gorham. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. 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
303 conserved acres
1% of Gorham’s land. Water is left out: Gorham has 48.8 square miles of land and 4.3 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Gorham’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation193 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)178 ac
Regional Water Districts20 ac
Town or city5 ac
County1 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits1 ac
State Conservation Area · 193 acAgricultural Easement · 178 acLocal Other or Unknown · 18 acLocal Park · 6 acLocal Resource Management Area · 2 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 178 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 4 of 10 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bare Hill Unique Area State Conservation Area | State conservation | 193 | Open |
| Flint Creek Small Watershed Protection District Lands Local Other or Unknown | Regional Water Districts | 18 | Unknown |
| Rushville Village Water Land Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Unknown |
| Gorham Town Of Land Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Unknown |
| Ontario County Parks Land Local Park | County | 1 | Unknown |
| Gorham Water Dist 1 Lands Local Resource Management Area | Regional Water Districts | 1 | Open |
| Rushville Water Works Lands Local Resource Management Area | Regional Water Districts | 1 | Open |
| Crystal Beach Betterment Association Lands Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 1 | Closed |
Things to do
4 places to go in Gorham
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Gorham
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Waterfalls in Gorham
1 waterfall without a name on the map.
Peaks in Gorham
Harkness Hill1,168 ft elevation
DirectionsLincoln Hill935 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 1.2 miHorses · 1.2 miUnpaved · 0.5 mi
Ontario Pathways Rail Trail1.2 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.
Ontario Pathways Rail Trail CyclingBike route
1.2 miCourts & fields
4Tennis
1Beach volleyball
1Basketball
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Gorham: 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) | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 31 | 34 | 42 | 55 | 68 | 76 | 80 | 79 | 72 | 59 | 47 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.0 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 2.9 | 3.3 | 3.5 | 3.7 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 2.4 |
February is the driest month (1.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 3.7 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Gorham →
Next door
Gorham 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gorham | 1% | under 0.1 | 2 | 29% | D |
| Canandaigua | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Seneca | 2% | 0.2 | 1 | 3% | D |
| Middlesex | 7% | 0.3 | 256 | 22% | B |
| Potter | under 1% | 0.1 | 4 | 4% | D |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Gorham
How much of Gorham is conserved land?
1% 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 Gorham’s trails?
Bare Hill Unique Area doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Gorham?
11,615 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Gorham or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 9 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Gorham have?
Ahead of 13% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #748 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 Gorham 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 →