Finger Lakes National Forest
Nature preserve
11,026 acres38.5 mi of trail
Interloken TrailBackbone TrailFinger Lakes / North Country TrailBurnt Hill Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailheadWebsite ↗
Logan Methodist Church · Photo: Dmadeo · CC BY-SA 3.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Hector
Hector has 913 acres of parks, 188 for every 1,000 residents
19% of Hector’s land is conserved, about 12,660 acres. The biggest trail networks: Finger Lakes National Forest (38.5 mi), Texas Hollow State Forest (3.6 mi). 12% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 73% of U.S. towns · #317 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Conserved land
19%
12,660 acres · of 102.4 sq mi of land
Trails
51 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
913 ac
188 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
12%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.4 mi
0.4 mi paths
Highest peak
1,850 ft
Burnt Hill
Lakes & rivers
11
2 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Hector?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Hector have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Hector is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns, #317 of 758 in New York. 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 Hector’s overall grade.
Conserved land19% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (51 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4BPark land188 acres of park per 1,000 residents (913 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13AParks close to home12% 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 73%
LessMore
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 58%
Water is 9% of Hector’s area (10 of 113 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 18%.
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 Finger Lakes National Forest, with 38.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Texas Hollow State Forest
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
808 acres3.6 mi of trail
Finger Lakes / North Country TrailBog Loop
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
12,660 conserved acres
19% of Hector’s land. Water is left out: Hector has 102.4 square miles of land and 10.2 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Hector’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service11,064 ac
State conservation810 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits693 ac
Town or city98 ac
National Forest · 11,064 acState Conservation Area · 809 acUnknown Easement · 634 acLocal Park · 98 acConservation Easement · 60 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 688 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 3 of 13 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finger Lakes National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 11,064 | Open |
| Texas Hollow State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 809 | Open |
| Town Of Hector Land Local Park | Town or city | 95 | Unknown |
| Village of Burdett Land Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Unknown |
| Connecticut Hill Wma State Resource Management Area | State conservation | 1 | Open |
Things to do
21 places to go in Hector
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Hector
Smith Memorial Park Boat Launch
DirectionsPlus 1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Waterfalls in Hector
Hectors Falls
DirectionsPlus 6 waterfalls without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Peaks in Hector
Burnt Hill1,850 ft elevation · In Finger Lakes National Forest
DirectionsFoots Hill1,831 ft elevation
DirectionsSouth Hill1,808 ft elevation
DirectionsNorth Hill1,745 ft elevation
DirectionsHector Backbone - North Slope1,640 ft elevation
DirectionsSatterly Hill1,414 ft elevation
DirectionsPicnic areas in Hector
1 picnic area without a name on the map.
Campgrounds in Hector
Backbone Horse CampFee · In Finger Lakes National Forest · USDA Forest Service
DirectionsBackbone Horse CampgroundIn Finger Lakes National Forest · US Forest Service
DirectionsBlueberry Patch CampgroundIn Finger Lakes National Forest
DirectionsPotomac Group CampgroundIn Finger Lakes National Forest · United States Forest Service
DirectionsPlus 1 campground without a name on the map.
Trails & water
25 named trails and 11 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 3.7 miHorses · 16.5 miUnpaved · 46.5 mi
Finger Lakes / North Country Trail10.8 mi
Interloken Trail8.5 mi
Backbone Trail6.5 mi
Burnt Hill Trail2.3 mi
Potomac Ponds Trail2.0 mi
No-tan-takto Trail1.3 mi
Back Door1.1 mi
Ravine Trail1.0 mi
Potomac Trail0.8 mi
Vitamin T0.8 mi
15 more trails
Gorge Trail
0.8 miSouth Slope Trail
0.7 miBog Loop
0.7 miVentilator
0.7 miFoundation
0.6 miGorge Flow
0.5 miSnake Rake
0.5 miHorse Trail
0.4 miN-95
0.4 miRavine Loop Trail
0.3 miGorge Ponds Trail
0.3 miThe Connector
0.2 miPotomac Interpretive Trail
0.2 miPotomac Campground Cutoff
0.1 miPotomac Ponds Access Trail
0.1 miBiking & sports
0.4 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.4 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
2Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 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 Hector: May and 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) | 30 | 33 | 41 | 54 | 67 | 75 | 79 | 77 | 71 | 58 | 46 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 2.2 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 2.6 | 2.6 |
February is the driest month (1.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 79 °F). 4.0 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Hector →
Next door
Hector and its neighbors
Hector has the most mapped trails of the 8 towns around it. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hector | 19% | 0.5 | 188 | 12% | B+ |
| Reading | 6% | 0.2 | 671 | 24% | B |
| Watkins Glen | 22% | 2.6 | 99 | 98% | A+ |
| Dix | 10% | 0.5 | 428 | 61% | A− |
| Catharine | 25% | 0.7 | 198 | 36% | A− |
| Lodi | 19% | 0.2 | 9 | 23% | B− |
| Enfield | 6% | 0.4 | 241 | 5% | B |
| Starkey | under 1% | 0.1 | 5 | 35% | C− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Hector
Where can I hike in Hector?
The longest trail networks: Finger Lakes National Forest, 38.5 miles; Texas Hollow State Forest, 3.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Hector is conserved land?
19% 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 Hector’s trails?
Finger Lakes National Forest and Texas Hollow State Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Hector?
0.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.4 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Hector?
49,464 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Hector or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 12,038 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Hector have?
Ahead of 73% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #317 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 Hector 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 →