Holding Point Recreation Complex
Park
34 acres1.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Horseheads
6% of Horseheads’ land is conserved, and virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 5.5 miles of mapped trail cross Horseheads, 1.4 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Holding Point Recreation Complex (1.4 mi), Thorne Street Park (0.7 mi).
Ahead of 91% of U.S. towns · #118 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
158 acres · of 3.9 sq mi of land
Trails
5.5 mi
1.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
111 ac
17 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Horseheads?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Horseheads have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Horseheads is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns, #118 of 758 in New York. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park ranks highest, park acres per resident lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Horseheads’ overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%B+Trails1.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (6 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4APark land17 acres of park per 1,000 residents (111 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 91%
LessMore
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 85%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− 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 Holding Point Recreation Complex, with 1.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Thorne Street Park
Park
19 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Linear Park
Park
4 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 8 parks & preserves
Holding Point Recreation Complex34 acres · 1.4 mi of trail
DirectionsThorne Street Park19 acres · 0.7 mi of trail
DirectionsLinear Park4 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Town Hall Fields8 acres
DirectionsMaple Grove Park7 acres
DirectionsGardner Road Park4 acres
Mill Street Park2 acres
DirectionsTeal Park1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
158 conserved acres
6% of Horseheads’ land. Who manages Horseheads’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city122 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)57 ac
County2 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits2 ac
Regional Water Districts1 ac
Local Park · 124 acConservation Easement · 57 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 2 acLocal Other or Unknown · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 57 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 5 of 13 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Horseheads Recreation Park Local Park | Town or city | 35 | Open |
| Village Of Horseheads Land Local Park | Town or city | 31 | Unknown |
| Board Of Education Land Local Park | Town or city | 20 | Unknown |
| Thorne Street Park Local Park | Town or city | 17 | Open |
| Maple Grove Park Local Park | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Mill Street Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Gardner Road Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| County of Chemung Land Local Park | County | 2 | Unknown |
| Horseheads Little League Lands Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 2 | Closed |
| Elmira Water Board Land Local Other or Unknown | Regional Water Districts | 1 | Unknown |
2 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
22 places to go in Horseheads
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Horseheads
22 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
20Baseball
11Tennis
4Basketball
4Soccer
2Football
1Tracks
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Horseheads: May and July
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 | 15.2 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 33 | 36 | 44 | 58 | 70 | 78 | 82 | 80 | 74 | 61 | 48 | 38 |
| Rain (in) | 2.0 | 1.7 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 3.7 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 2.4 |
February is the driest month (1.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 3.8 inches fall in September, the wettest month. The climate in Horseheads →
Questions about parks and trails in Horseheads
Where can I hike in Horseheads?
The longest trail networks: Holding Point Recreation Complex, 1.4 miles; Thorne Street Park, 0.7 miles; Linear Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Horseheads 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 Horseheads’ trails?
Holding Point Recreation Complex and Thorne Street Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Horseheads?
6,558 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Horseheads or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 111 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Horseheads have?
Ahead of 91% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #118 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 Horseheads 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 →