Casterline Pond Waterway Access
Park
14 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0COutdoors
Outdoors in Homer
Homer has 62 acres of parks, 10 for every 1,000 residents
1.5 miles of mapped trail cross Homer. 1% of Homer’s land is conserved, about 442 acres. 55% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 27% of U.S. towns · #709 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
442 acres · of 50.2 sq mi of land
Trails
1.5 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
62 ac
10 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
55%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,883 ft
Brake Hill
Lakes & rivers
5
What kind of outdoors town is Homer?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Homer have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Homer is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns, #709 of 758 in New York. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; park acres per resident come closest.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Homer’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land10 acres of park per 1,000 residents (62 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home55% of residents within a half mile of a park · NY 70% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 27%
LessMore
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 6%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C− 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.
Durkee Park
Park
12 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Harry A. Calale Park
Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 7 parks & preserves
Casterline Pond Waterway Access14 acres
DirectionsDurkee Park12 acres
Harry A. Calale Park3 acres
Homer Village Green2 acres
DirectionsGeorge Vernum Memorial Park1 acres
DirectionsNewton Water Works Park1 acres
Newton Park1 acres
Who protects it
442 conserved acres
1% of Homer’s land. Who manages Homer’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
USDA easements (NRCS)388 ac
Town or city63 ac
State conservation14 ac
Agricultural Easement · 388 acLocal Park · 63 acState Recreation Area · 14 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 388 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 8 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homer Village of Land Local Park | Town or city | 32 | Unknown |
| Casterline Pond Waterway Access State Recreation Area | State conservation | 14 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 13 | Open |
| Durkee Memorial Park Local Park | Town or city | 12 | Open |
| Harry A Calale Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Homer Recreation Department Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Newton Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
7 places to go in Homer
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Homer
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Peaks in Homer
Brake Hill1,883 ft elevation
DirectionsCorl Hill1,785 ft elevation
DirectionsEast Hill1,627 ft elevation
DirectionsCosmos Hill1,552 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
5 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
9Baseball
4Tennis
3Football
2Soccer
2Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →4 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 Homer: May, July 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 | 80 | 78 | 71 | 58 | 46 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 2.8 | 2.4 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 4.4 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 3.2 | 3.3 |
February is the driest month (2.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 4.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Homer →
Next door
Homer 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homer | 1% | under 0.1 | 10 | 55% | C |
| Cortlandville | 2% | 0.3 | 49 | 55% | B |
| Truxton | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Preble | 16% | 0.7 | 68 | 32% | A− |
| Scott | 8% | 0.1 | 917 | 29% | B |
| Summerhill | 22% | 0.2 | 3,840 | 40% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Homer
How much of Homer 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 Homer’s trails?
Casterline Pond Waterway Access and Durkee Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Homer?
41,155 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Homer or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 62 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Homer have?
Ahead of 27% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #709 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 Homer 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 →