Arnold Lake State Forest
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
759 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Hartwick Historic District · Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Hartwick
Hartwick has 836 acres of parks, 390 for every 1,000 residents
6% of Hartwick’s land is conserved, about 1,641 acres. 23% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 2.8 miles of mapped trail cross Hartwick, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 52% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
1,641 acres · of 40.1 sq mi of land
Trails
2.8 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
836 ac
390 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
23%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,781 ft
Burke Hill
Lakes & rivers
4
What kind of outdoors town is Hartwick?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Hartwick have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Hartwick is ahead of 52% 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 Hartwick’s overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4CPark land390 acres of park per 1,000 residents (836 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13AParks close to home23% 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 52%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. 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.
Hartwick State Forest
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
21 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
1,641 conserved acres
6% of Hartwick’s land. Who manages Hartwick’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation788 ac
County515 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits187 ac
Private owners73 ac
Regional Water Districts35 ac
Town or city26 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)15 ac
State Conservation Area · 788 acLocal Conservation Area · 515 acOther Easement · 169 acPrivate Recreation or Education · 73 acLocal Other or Unknown · 35 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 202 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 12 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arnold Lake State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 766 | Open |
| Otsego County Lands Local Conservation Area | County | 515 | Restricted |
| Private Lands Private Recreation or Education | Private owners | 73 | Closed |
| Milford Water Works Land Local Other or Unknown | Regional Water Districts | 35 | Unknown |
| Town Of Hartwick Land Local Park | Town or city | 26 | Unknown |
| Hartwick State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 21 | Open |
| Hartwick Town Lands Local Resource Management Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 1 | Open |
| Hartwick College Lands Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 1 | Closed |
Things to do
3 places to go in Hartwick
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Hartwick
Burke Hill1,781 ft elevation
DirectionsHemlock Hill1,621 ft elevation
DirectionsBunn Hill1,506 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 4 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 0.5 mi
Jeep Trail0.2 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.
Courts & fields
26Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →5 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 Hartwick: 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 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 29 | 32 | 40 | 54 | 66 | 74 | 78 | 76 | 70 | 57 | 45 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 3.2 | 2.7 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 3.6 | 3.7 |
February is the driest month (2.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 78 °F). 5.0 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Hartwick →
Next door
Hartwick and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Middlefield11 miNew Lisbon7.3 miMilford5.7 miOtsego4.9 miHartwick2.8 miBurlington2.7 miHartwick Seminary1.1 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hartwick | 6% | 0.1 | 390 | 23% | B− |
| Middlefield | 9% | 0.2 | 385 | 16% | B |
| Otsego | 7% | 0.1 | 173 | 47% | B |
| Hartwick Seminary | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Milford | 9% | 0.1 | 570 | 43% | B |
| New Lisbon | 10% | 0.2 | 1,174 | 10% | B |
| Burlington | 9% | 0.1 | 1,374 | 16% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Hartwick
How much of Hartwick is conserved land?
6% 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 Hartwick’s trails?
Arnold Lake State Forest and Hartwick State Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Hartwick?
17,707 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Hartwick or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 836 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Hartwick have?
Ahead of 52% 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 Hartwick 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 →