Great Swamp Conservancy
Nature preserve
150 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
South Peterboro Street Commercial Historic District · Photo: Doug Kerr from Upstate New York · CC BY-SA 2.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Lenox
8% of Lenox’s land is conserved: 1,897 acres
192 acres are parks and preserves, 22 per 1,000 residents. 72% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 12 miles of mapped trail cross Lenox, 0.3 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 69% of U.S. towns · #355 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Conserved land
8%
1,897 acres · of 36.3 sq mi of land
Trails
12 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
192 ac
22 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
72%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
7.8 mi
0.4 mi lanes · 4.9 mi paths
Highest peak
499 ft
Allis Hill
What kind of outdoors town is Lenox?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Lenox have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Lenox is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns, #355 of 758 in New York. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, trail miles lowest.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Lenox’s overall grade.
Conserved land8% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (12 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land22 acres of park per 1,000 residents (192 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home72% 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 69%
LessMore
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 53%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B 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.
Old Erie Canal State Historic Park
Managed by New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
63 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Who protects it
1,897 conserved acres
8% of Lenox’s land. Who manages Lenox’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
USDA easements (NRCS)1,703 ac
State parks150 ac
Town or city51 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits35 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government4 ac
County2 ac
Conservation Easement · 1,703 acState Historic or Cultural Area · 147 acLocal Park · 54 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 35 acLocal Resource Management Area · 4 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,672 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 3 of 63 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Old Erie Canal State Historic Park State Historic or Cultural Area | State parks | 147 | Open |
| Great Swamp Conservancy Lands Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 35 | Closed |
| Village Of Canastota Land Local Park | Town or city | 29 | Unknown |
| Community Park Local Park | Town or city | 12 | Open |
| Town Of Lenox Land Local Park | Town or city | 7 | Unknown |
| Cowaselon W S Dist Land Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Unknown |
| Lenox Town Lands Local Resource Management Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 4 | Open |
| County Hall Green Local Park | County | 2 | Open |
| New York State Lands State Park | State parks | 2 | Open |
| Verona Beach State Park State Park | State parks | 2 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Lenox
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Lenox
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Lenox
Allis Hill499 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
3 named trails
Named trails
Open to bikes · 2.4 miUnpaved · 1.1 mi
West Shore Railroad1.3 mi
Link Trail0.5 mi
Erie Canalway Trail0.4 mi
Biking & sports
7.8 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.4 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
4.9 mi
off-road bike paths
2.5 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
ECT - Erie Canalway Trail - 3 DeWitt to Green IslandBike route
0.4 miCourts & fields
9Baseball
3Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →17 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Canal Town MuseumBuilding · listed 1986
About itCanastota Methodist ChurchBuilding · listed 1986
About itCanastota Public LibraryBuilding · listed 1986
About itJudge Nathan S. Roberts HouseBuilding · listed 1986
About itPeterboro Street Elementary SchoolBuilding · listed 1986
About itSouth Peterboro Street Commercial Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1986
About itUnited Church of CanastotaBuilding · listed 1986
About itHouse at 107 Stroud StreetBuilding · listed 1986
About itHouse at 115 South Main StreetBuilding · listed 1986
About itHouse at 205 North Main StreetBuilding · listed 1986
About itHouse at 233 James StreetBuilding · listed 1986
About itHouse at 313 North Main StreetBuilding · listed 1986
About it5 more on the History page.
When to get out
The best walking months in Lenox: May and July to 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) | 9.3 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 31 | 33 | 42 | 56 | 69 | 78 | 82 | 81 | 73 | 60 | 48 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 2.8 | 2.4 | 2.9 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 3.3 | 3.3 |
February is the driest month (2.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.2 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Lenox →
Next door
Lenox 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lenox | 8% | 0.3 | 22 | 72% | B+ |
| Vienna | 4% | 0.1 | 316 | 50% | B− |
| Verona | 7% | 0.6 | 500 | 44% | A− |
| Oneida | 2% | 0.7 | 35 | 87% | B+ |
| Lincoln | 1% | 0.3 | 113 | 29% | B− |
| Sullivan | 7% | 0.2 | 29 | 45% | B |
| Wampsville | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Lenox
How much of Lenox is conserved land?
8% 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 Lenox’s trails?
Great Swamp Conservancy and Old Erie Canal State Historic Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Lenox?
7.8 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.4 of painted or protected lanes, 4.9 of off-road paths and 2.5 of shoulders and shared lanes. Named routes: ECT - Erie Canalway Trail - 3 DeWitt to Green Island.
Is there public land near Lenox?
13,464 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Lenox or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 192 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Lenox have?
Ahead of 69% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #355 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 Lenox 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 →