Catharine Creek Wildlife Management Area
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
363 acres2 mi of trail
Catharine Valley TrailWill Bypass
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Photo: Mitchazenia · CC BY-SA 4.0A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Montour Falls
36% of Montour Falls’ land is conserved: 697 acres
4.5 miles of mapped trail cross Montour Falls, 1.5 per square mile of land. 150 acres are parks and preserves, 86 per 1,000 residents. 98% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 98% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
36%
697 acres · of 3.0 sq mi of land
Trails
4.5 mi
1.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
150 ac
86 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
98%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Montour Falls?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Montour Falls have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Montour Falls is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns. All four inputs put Montour Falls near the top nationally; conserved land ranks highest.
A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Montour Falls’ overall grade.
Conserved land36% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%A+Trails1.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (5 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4APark land86 acres of park per 1,000 residents (150 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13AParks close to home98% of residents within a half mile of a park · NY 70% · U.S. 72%A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 98%
LessMore
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 Catharine Creek WMA, with 2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
697 conserved acres
36% of Montour Falls’ land. Who manages Montour Falls’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation395 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits153 ac
Town or city96 ac
Other state land74 ac
State parks12 ac
State Resource Management Area · 395 acUnknown Easement · 149 acLocal Park · 96 acState Recreation Area · 86 acPrivate Conservation · 5 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 149 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 9 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catharine Creek Wma State Resource Management Area | State conservation | 395 | Open |
| Cayuga-Seneca Canal State Recreation Area | Other state land | 47 | Open |
| Town of Montour Land Local Park | Town or city | 40 | Unknown |
| Village of Montour Falls Land Local Park | Town or city | 30 | Unknown |
| Marina Park State Recreation Area | Other state land | 27 | Open |
| Havana Glen Park Local Park | Town or city | 26 | Open |
| Catharine Valley Trail State Recreation Area | State parks | 12 | Open |
| Gahada Gehn Yod Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 5 | Closed |
Things to do
6 places to go in Montour Falls
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Montour Falls
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Waterfalls in Montour Falls
Plus 1 waterfall without a name on the map.
Picnic areas in Montour Falls
1 picnic area without a name on the map.
Trails & water
2 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 1.6 miUnpaved · 1.9 mi
Catharine Valley Trail1.6 mi
Will Bypass0.2 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.
Catharine Valley TrailBike route
1.6 miCourts & fields
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
May is the best month for walking in Montour Falls
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 | 44 | 58 | 70 | 79 | 83 | 81 | 74 | 61 | 49 | 38 |
| Rain (in) | 1.8 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 2.5 | 2.3 |
February is the driest month (1.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 3.6 inches fall in September, the wettest month. The climate in Montour Falls →
Questions about parks and trails in Montour Falls
Where can I hike in Montour Falls?
The longest trail networks: Catharine Creek Wildlife Management Area, 2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Montour Falls is conserved land?
36% 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 Montour Falls’ trails?
Catharine Creek Wildlife Management Area doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Montour Falls?
37,506 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Montour Falls or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 548 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Montour Falls have?
Ahead of 98% 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 Montour Falls 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 →