Humes Preserve
Managed by North Shore Land Alliance
44 acres1.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Jack Lewis · CC BY-SA 4.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Mill Neck
15% of Mill Neck’s land is conserved: 258 acres
4.4 miles of mapped trail cross Mill Neck, 1.7 per square mile of land. 87 acres are parks and preserves, 76 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Humes Preserve (1.7 mi), Shu Swamp Preserve (1.1 mi), Upper Francis Pond Preserve (0.5 mi).
Ahead of 92% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
15%
258 acres · of 2.6 sq mi of land
Trails
4.4 mi
1.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
87 ac
76 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
68%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
194 ft
Mill Neck Peak
Lakes & rivers
8
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Mill Neck?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Mill Neck have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Mill Neck is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; trail miles rank highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Mill Neck’s overall grade.
Conserved land15% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%A−Trails1.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (4 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4APark land76 acres of park per 1,000 residents (87 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home68% 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 92%
LessMore
Water is 11% of Mill Neck’s area (0 of 3 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 14%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would still be 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 Humes Preserve, with 1.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Shu Swamp Preserve
Managed by North Shore Wildlife Sanctuary
44 acres1.1 mi of trail
Blue TrailRed Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Upper Francis Pond Preserve
Managed by North Shore Land Alliance
25 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge
Managed by United States Fish and Wildlife Service
202 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
All 7 parks & preserves
Humes Preserve44 acres · 1.7 mi of trail · North Shore Land Alliance
DirectionsShu Swamp Preserve44 acres · 1.1 mi of trail · North Shore Wildlife Sanctuary
DirectionsUpper Francis Pond Preserve25 acres · 0.5 mi of trail · North Shore Land Alliance
DirectionsSmithers Connector Parcel9 acres · 0.2 mi of trail · North Shore Land Alliance
DirectionsOyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge202 acres · United States Fish and Wildlife Service
DirectionsRaikes Preserve6 acres · North Shore Wildlife Sanctuary
DirectionsAllsop-Fisher Salt Marsh2 acres · North Shore Wildlife Sanctuary
Who protects it
258 conserved acres
15% of Mill Neck’s land. Water is left out: Mill Neck has 2.6 square miles of land and 0.3 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Mill Neck’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service345 ac
County43 ac
Private owners42 ac
National Wildlife Refuge · 345 acLocal Recreation Area · 43 acLocal Park · 42 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 173 | Restricted |
| Congressman Lester Wolff Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 172 | Restricted |
| Shu Swamp Nature Preserve Local Park | Private owners | 42 | Open |
| Humes Estate Local Recreation Area | County | 38 | Open |
| Smithers Estate Local Recreation Area | County | 5 | Open |
Things to do
5 places to go in Mill Neck
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Mill Neck
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Mill Neck
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Mill Neck
Mill Neck Peak194 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
3 named trails and 8 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 2.0 mi
Blue Trail0.6 mi
Robert deGraff Causeway0.2 mi
Red Trail0.2 mi
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
24Tennis
2Basketball
1Soccer
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Mill Neck: April 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) | 9.5 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.4 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 40 | 42 | 49 | 60 | 70 | 79 | 85 | 83 | 76 | 65 | 54 | 45 |
| Rain (in) | 3.4 | 2.8 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 3.4 | 4.2 |
February is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 4.4 inches fall in September, the wettest month. The climate in Mill Neck →
Next door
Mill Neck 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mill Neck | 15% | 1.7 | 76 | 68% | A |
| Locust Valley | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Matinecock | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Lattingtown | 6% | 1.1 | 41 | 72% | A− |
| Upper Brookville | 16% | 3.0 | 197 | 60% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Mill Neck
Where can I hike in Mill Neck?
The longest trail networks: Humes Preserve, 1.7 miles; Shu Swamp Preserve, 1.1 miles; Upper Francis Pond Preserve, 0.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Mill Neck is conserved land?
15% 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 Mill Neck’s trails?
Humes Preserve and Shu Swamp Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Mill Neck?
17,188 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Mill Neck or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 87 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Mill Neck have?
Ahead of 92% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Mill Neck 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 →