New Scotland has 2,540 acres of parks, 278 for every 1,000 residents
66 miles of mapped trail cross New Scotland, 1.2 per square mile of land. 13% of New Scotland’s land is conserved, about 4,942 acres. The biggest trail networks: Thacher State Park (15.4 mi), Five Rivers Environmental Education Center (8.4 mi), Keleher Preserve (5.7 mi).
Ahead of 90% of U.S. towns · #123 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Conserved land
13%
4,942 acres · of 57.5 sq mi of land
Trails
66 mi
1.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
2,540 ac
278 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
60%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.0 mi
3.0 mi paths
Highest peak
1,624 ft
Wolf Hill
Lakes & rivers
9
What kind of outdoors town is New Scotland?
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, New Scotland is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns, #123 of 758 in New York. 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 New Scotland’s overall grade.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− 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.
13% of New Scotland’s land. Who manages New Scotland’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits3,578 ac
State parks1,163 ac
State conservation759 ac
Regional Water Districts538 ac
Joint435 ac
Town or city153 ac
County133 ac
Private Conservation · 2,060 acState Park · 1,163 acConservation Easement · 928 acLocal Other or Unknown · 561 acAgricultural Easement · 504 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 983 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 5 of 63 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)
Managed by
Acres
Public access
John Boyd Thacher State Park
State Park
State parks
1,163
Open
Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy Land
Private Conservation
Land trusts & nonprofits
1,022
Open
Hannacroix Ravine Preserve
Private Conservation
Land trusts & nonprofits
656
Open
Bethlehem Water Dist #1 Land
Local Other or Unknown
Regional Water Districts
538
Unknown
Five Rivers Environmental Education Center
State Other or Unknown
State conservation
408
Open
Barber Property
Local Recreation Area
Land trusts & nonprofits
277
Open
Black Creek Marsh Wma
State Resource Management Area
State conservation
171
Open
Black Creek Marsh Wildlife Management Area
State Conservation Area
State conservation
167
Restricted
Bennett Hill Preserve
Private Conservation
Land trusts & nonprofits
155
Closed
Holt Preserve
Private Conservation
Land trusts & nonprofits
147
Closed
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
71 places to go in New Scotland
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in New Scotland
7 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
3.0 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
13Tennis
7Baseball
5Basketball
4Soccer
1Field hockey
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
6 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
The best walking months in New Scotland: 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)
9.4
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
58
70
78
82
81
73
61
49
38
Rain (in)
2.8
2.6
3.2
3.4
3.6
4.3
4.0
4.0
3.9
4.2
3.0
3.4
February is the driest month (2.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.3 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in New Scotland →
Next door
New Scotland and its neighbors
New Scotland has the most mapped trails of the 6 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in New Scotland
Where can I hike in New Scotland?
The longest trail networks: Thacher State Park, 15.4 miles; Five Rivers Environmental Education Center, 8.4 miles; Keleher Preserve, 5.7 miles; Winifred Matthews Holt Preserve, 3.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of New Scotland is conserved land?
13% 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 New Scotland’s trails?
Thacher State Park and Five Rivers Environmental Education Center don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in New Scotland?
3.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.0 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near New Scotland?
27,276 acres of parks and open public land lie inside New Scotland or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 2,950 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does New Scotland have?
Ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #123 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 New Scotland neighbors.
Bennett Hill Farm · Photo: TrudiJ · CC BY-SA 4.0