Stoney Pond State Forest
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
1,455 acres18.8 mi of trail
Trail 1Trail 11Trail 25Trail 19+1
Dogs allowed
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Nelson Welsh Congregational Church · Photo: Beangus · CC BY-SA 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Nelson
Nelson has 2,451 acres of parks, 1,388 for every 1,000 residents
23% of Nelson’s land is conserved, about 6,399 acres. The biggest trail networks: Stoney Pond State Forest (18.8 mi), Tioughnioga Wildlife Management Area (9 mi), Nelson Swamp Unique Area (0.6 mi). 33 miles of mapped trail cross Nelson, 0.8 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 87% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
23%
6,399 acres · of 43.1 sq mi of land
Trails
33 mi
0.8 per sq mi of land
Park land
2,451 ac
1,388 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
38%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,936 ft
Tinselor Hill
Lakes & rivers
3
What kind of outdoors town is Nelson?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Nelson have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Nelson is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Nelson’s overall grade.
Conserved land23% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (33 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land1,388 acres of park per 1,000 residents (2,451 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 87%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to 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 Stoney Pond State Forest, with 18.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Tioughnioga Wildlife Management Area
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
3,353 acres9 mi of trail
Link TrailOnondaga Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Nelson Swamp Unique Area
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
771 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dogs allowed
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Morrow Mountain State Forest
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
38 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
6,399 conserved acres
23% of Nelson’s land. Who manages Nelson’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation5,697 ac
County408 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits153 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government83 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)65 ac
Other state land2 ac
State Resource Management Area · 3,354 acState Conservation Area · 2,344 acLocal Conservation Area · 397 acConservation Easement · 218 acLocal Park · 96 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 218 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tioughnioga Wma State Resource Management Area | State conservation | 3,354 | Open |
| Stoney Pond State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 1,462 | Open |
| Nelson Swamp Unique Area State Conservation Area | State conservation | 843 | Open |
| Madison County Lands Local Conservation Area | County | 395 | Restricted |
| Tuscarora Nature Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 83 | Open |
| Morrow Mountain State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 39 | Open |
| County Forest Local Park | County | 13 | Open |
| New York State Lands Local Conservation Area | Other state land | 2 | Restricted |
Things to do
2 places to go in Nelson
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Nelson
Tinselor Hill1,936 ft elevation · In Tioughnioga Wildlife Management Area
DirectionsJackass Hill1,903 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
25 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 18.5 miHorses · 3.8 miUnpaved · 7.5 mi
Trail 11.3 mi
Trail 111.2 mi
Trail 251.1 mi
Trail 190.9 mi
Trail 60.8 mi
Trail 150.8 mi
Trail 30.8 mi
Link Trail0.7 mi
Trail 140.7 mi
Trail 120.7 mi
15 more trails
Trail 5
0.7 miTrail 13
0.6 miTrail 4
0.5 miTrail 26
0.5 miSnowmobile Trail
0.5 miTrail 18
0.4 miTrail 10
0.4 miTrail 22
0.4 miTrail 8
0.3 miTrail 21
0.3 miTrail 2
0.3 miOnondaga Trail
0.3 miTrail 9
0.3 miTrail 16
0.3 miTrail 20
0.3 miLakes & 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
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Nelson: 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 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 28 | 31 | 39 | 52 | 65 | 73 | 77 | 76 | 69 | 57 | 44 | 33 |
| Rain (in) | 3.2 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 4.6 | 3.7 | 3.8 |
February is the driest month (2.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 77 °F). 4.6 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Nelson →
Next door
Nelson and its neighbors
Nelson has the most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nelson | 23% | 0.8 | 1,388 | 38% | A |
| Cazenovia | 11% | 0.4 | 101 | 62% | A− |
| Georgetown | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Eaton | 1% | under 0.1 | 12 | 33% | C− |
| Fenner | 2% | 0.2 | 67 | 25% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Nelson
Where can I hike in Nelson?
The longest trail networks: Stoney Pond State Forest, 18.8 miles; Tioughnioga Wildlife Management Area, 9 miles; Nelson Swamp Unique Area, 0.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Nelson is conserved land?
23% 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 Nelson’s trails?
OpenStreetMap records dogs as welcome at Stoney Pond State Forest and Nelson Swamp Unique Area. For the rest, check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Nelson?
30,926 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Nelson or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 5,821 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Nelson have?
Ahead of 87% 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 Nelson 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 →