Gateway Park
Managed by Village of Gowanda
28 acres1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Pubdog · Public domainA−Outdoors
Outdoors in Gowanda
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Gowanda
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 1.5 miles of mapped trail cross Gowanda, 0.9 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Gateway Park (1 mi).
Ahead of 83% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
26 acres · of 1.6 sq mi of land
Trails
1.5 mi
0.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
53 ac
20 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Gowanda?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Gowanda have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Gowanda is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Gowanda’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land20 acres of park per 1,000 residents (53 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 83%
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
The longest trail network is Gateway Park, with 1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Creekside Park
Managed by Village of Gowanda
4 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Chang Hu Park
Managed by Village of Gowanda
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
26 conserved acres
3% of Gowanda’s land. Who manages Gowanda’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city19 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits6 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government2 ac
Local Park · 24 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 2 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 5 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Village Of Gowanda Land Local Park | Town or city | 19 | Unknown |
| Vfw Park Local Park | Land trusts & nonprofits | 4 | Open |
| American Legion Lands Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 2 | Closed |
| Saint Johns Park Lands Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 2 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Gowanda
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Gowanda
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
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
2Baseball
1Multi-sport
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Gowanda: May, June, 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 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 33 | 35 | 44 | 57 | 70 | 78 | 81 | 80 | 74 | 61 | 49 | 38 |
| Rain (in) | 3.0 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 3.7 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 3.3 | 3.6 |
February is the driest month (2.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 4.1 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Gowanda →
Next door
Gowanda and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Gowanda
Where can I hike in Gowanda?
The longest trail networks: Gateway Park, 1 miles; Creekside Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Gowanda is conserved land?
3% 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 Gowanda’s trails?
Gateway Park and Creekside Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Gowanda?
7,064 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Gowanda or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 53 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Gowanda have?
Ahead of 83% 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 Gowanda 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 →