Pharsalia Woods State Forest
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
3,057 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
BOutdoors
Outdoors in Plymouth
Plymouth has 3,869 acres of parks, 2,773 for every 1,000 residents
14% of Plymouth’s land is conserved, about 3,888 acres. 2.5 miles of mapped trail cross Plymouth, 0.1 per square mile of land. 26% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 62% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
14%
3,888 acres · of 42.2 sq mi of land
Trails
2.5 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
3,869 ac
2,773 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
26%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,988 ft
Pigeon Hill
Lakes & rivers
3
What kind of outdoors town is Plymouth?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Plymouth have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Plymouth is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Plymouth’s overall grade.
Conserved land14% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land2,773 acres of park per 1,000 residents (3,869 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home26% 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 62%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
3,888 conserved acres
14% of Plymouth’s land. Who manages Plymouth’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation3,843 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)45 ac
State Conservation Area · 3,842 acConservation Easement · 45 acState Resource Management Area · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 45 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pharsalia Woods State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 3,110 | Open |
| Pigeon Hill State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 732 | Open |
| Pharsalia Wma State Resource Management Area | State conservation | 1 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Plymouth
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Plymouth
Pigeon Hill1,988 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
3 lakes & rivers
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.
Courts & fields
2Golf
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Plymouth: May and 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) | 30 | 32 | 41 | 55 | 67 | 75 | 79 | 77 | 70 | 58 | 45 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 3.1 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 3.5 | 3.6 |
February is the driest month (2.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 79 °F). 4.8 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Plymouth →
Next door
Plymouth and its neighbors
Plymouth has the second 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plymouth | 14% | 0.1 | 2,773 | 26% | B |
| Smyrna | 15% | under 0.1 | 2,922 | 17% | B |
| North Norwich | 8% | under 0.1 | 877 | 6% | B− |
| Pharsalia | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Preston | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Plymouth
How much of Plymouth is conserved land?
14% 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 Plymouth’s trails?
Pharsalia Woods State Forest and Pigeon Hill State Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Plymouth?
68,256 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Plymouth or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 3,869 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Plymouth have?
Ahead of 62% 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 Plymouth 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 →