Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.03.2 miles of mapped trail cross Menands, 1.0 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Sage Estate Preserve (2.1 mi). 105 acres are parks and preserves, 23 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 71% of U.S. towns · #330 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Menands is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns, #330 of 758 in New York. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
Water is 8% of Menands’ area (0 of 3 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read under 1%.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
The longest trail network is Sage Estate Preserve, with 2.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
under 1% of Menands’ land. Water is left out: Menands has 3.1 square miles of land and 0.3 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Menands’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 2 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Menands, Village of Land Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Unknown |
| Menands Village Lands Local Resource Management Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 1 | Open |
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
1 public pool without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
1 dog park without a name on the map.
3 picnic areas without a name on the map.
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
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) | 33 | 36 | 45 | 59 | 71 | 79 | 84 | 82 | 74 | 62 | 49 | 38 |
| Rain (in) | 2.6 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 2.9 | 3.3 |
February is the driest month (2.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Menands →
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Menands | under 1% | 1.0 | 23 | 98% | B+ |
| Loudonville | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Colonie | 7% | 1.4 | 29 | 78% | A− |
| Albany | 15% | 2.3 | 19 | 98% | A |
| North Greenbush | 1% | 0.7 | 5 | 54% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
The longest trail networks: Sage Estate Preserve, 2.1 miles; Mohawk Hudson River Bike Trail Park, 0.3 miles; Polk Switzer Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
under 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.
Sage Estate Preserve and Mohawk Hudson River Bike Trail Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
6.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.3 of painted or protected lanes and 3.0 of off-road paths.
12,566 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Menands or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 105 of them inside the town line.
Ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #330 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.
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Menands neighbors.
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 →