Skyline Drive State Forest
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
187 acres0.6 mi of trail
Skyline Drive PFAR
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Kirkwood
Kirkwood has 258 acres of parks, 48 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Skyline Drive State Forest (0.6 mi), River Park (0.5 mi). 2.2 miles of mapped trail cross Kirkwood, 0.1 per square mile of land. 38% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 37% of U.S. towns · #655 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
257 acres · of 30.7 sq mi of land
Trails
2.2 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
258 ac
48 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
38%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
1 boat launch
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Kirkwood have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Kirkwood is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns, #655 of 758 in New York. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Kirkwood’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4CPark land48 acres of park per 1,000 residents (258 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home38% 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 37%
LessMore
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 14%
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
The longest trail network is Skyline Drive State Forest, with 0.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Kirkwood Valley Park
Park
11 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto Kirkwood 5 Mile Point Park & Ride
Grange Hall Park
Park
4 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
257 conserved acres
1% of Kirkwood’s land. Who manages Kirkwood’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation197 ac
Town or city72 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government19 ac
Other state land6 ac
State Conservation Area · 187 acLocal Park · 91 acState Other or Unknown · 10 acState Park · 5 acState Resource Management Area · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 8 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skyline Drive State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 187 | Open |
| Town Of Kirkwood Land Local Park | Town or city | 45 | Unknown |
| River Park Local Park | Town or city | 27 | Open |
| Valley Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 16 | Open |
| Kirkwood Sub-office State Other or Unknown | State conservation | 10 | Unknown |
| Recreation Area State Park | Other state land | 5 | Open |
| Grange Hall Road Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 4 | Open |
| Binghamton State Psychiatric Center State Resource Management Area | Other state land | 1 | Open |
Things to do
7 places to go in Kirkwood
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Kirkwood
Kirkwood Valley Park PlaygroundIn Kirkwood Valley Park
DirectionsPlus 3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Kirkwood
1 dog park without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Kirkwood
Riverside Lane Boat Launch
DirectionsPicnic areas in Kirkwood
1 picnic area without a name on the map.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 0.8 mi
Skyline Drive PFAR0.6 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
7Baseball
3Tennis
2Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Kirkwood: May, July 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 | 15.2 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 32 | 35 | 44 | 57 | 70 | 78 | 82 | 80 | 73 | 60 | 48 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.8 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 3.9 | 3.1 | 3.0 |
February is the driest month (2.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Kirkwood →
Next door
Kirkwood 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirkwood | 1% | 0.1 | 48 | 38% | C+ |
| Conklin | under 1% | 0.1 | 12 | 25% | C− |
| Windsor | 5% | 0.2 | 304 | 23% | B |
| Fenton | 5% | 1.0 | 176 | 48% | A− |
| Binghamton | 11% | 0.3 | 11 | 99%+ | A− |
| Dickinson | 9% | 0.6 | 45 | 99% | A |
| Colesville | 2% | 0.1 | 257 | 16% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Kirkwood
Where can I hike in Kirkwood?
The longest trail networks: Skyline Drive State Forest, 0.6 miles; River Park, 0.5 miles; Grange Hall Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Kirkwood 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 Kirkwood’s trails?
Skyline Drive State Forest and River Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Kirkwood?
17,560 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Kirkwood or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 259 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Kirkwood have?
Ahead of 37% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #655 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 Kirkwood 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 →