The Georgi on the Battenkill Community Park & Museum
Park
5 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0C−Outdoors
Outdoors in Salem
6% of Salem’s land is conserved: 1,863 acres
12% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 9 acres are parks and preserves, 3.5 per 1,000 residents. 5.1 miles of mapped trail cross Salem, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 24% of U.S. towns · #720 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
1,863 acres · of 52.4 sq mi of land
Trails
5.1 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
9 ac
3.5 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
12%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.3 mi
Highest peak
1,460 ft
Wheeler Hill
Lakes & rivers
5
What kind of outdoors town is Salem?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Salem have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Salem is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns, #720 of 758 in New York. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Salem’s overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (5 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4CPark land3.5 acres of park per 1,000 residents (9 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13CParks close to home12% 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 24%
LessMore
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 5%
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Salem. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. 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
1,863 conserved acres
6% of Salem’s land. Who manages Salem’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits3,631 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)114 ac
State conservation5 ac
Agricultural Easement · 3,745 acState Recreation Area · 5 acUnknown Easement · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,858 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 43 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Battenkill River Fishing Access State Recreation Area | State conservation | 5 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Salem
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Salem
Wheeler Hill1,460 ft elevation
DirectionsDugway Mountain1,401 ft elevation
DirectionsCary Hill
DirectionsTrails & water
5 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
1.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.3 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
3Tennis
3Baseball
2Soccer
2Field hockey
1Football
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →6 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 5 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Salem Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1975
About itEagleville Covered BridgeStructure · listed 1978
About itRexleigh Covered BridgeStructure · listed 1978
About itRevolutionary War CemeterySite · listed 2004
About itAlexander McNish HouseBuilding · listed 2010
About itMartin-Fitch House & Asa Fitch, Jr. LaboratoryBuilding · listed 2014
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Salem: 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) | 9.3 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 31 | 34 | 42 | 57 | 68 | 77 | 81 | 79 | 72 | 60 | 47 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 2.8 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 3.7 | 3.9 | 3.1 | 3.3 |
February is the driest month (2.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 4.1 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Salem →
Next door
Salem and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Salem
How much of Salem is conserved land?
6% 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 Salem’s trails?
The Georgi on the Battenkill Community Park & Museum doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Salem?
1.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.3 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Salem?
21,769 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Salem or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 9 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Salem have?
Ahead of 24% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #720 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 Salem 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 →