Chazy Highlands Wild Forest
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
15,439 acres11 mi of trail
Lake Placid BranchLyon Mountain TrailOrange LoopVe Tr
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
AOutdoors
Outdoors in Saranac
Saranac has 16,968 acres of parks, 4,440 for every 1,000 residents
34% of Saranac’s land is conserved, about 24,743 acres. The biggest trail networks: Chazy Highlands Wild Forest (11 mi), Burnt Hill State Forest (2.5 mi), Macomb State Forest (0.5 mi). 79 miles of mapped trail cross Saranac, 0.7 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 86% of U.S. towns · #168 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Conserved land
34%
24,743 acres · of 114.8 sq mi of land
Trails
79 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
16,968 ac
4,440 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
31%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
3,829 ft
Lyon Mountain
Lakes & rivers
7
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Saranac?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Saranac have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Saranac is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #168 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 Saranac’s overall grade.
Conserved land34% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (79 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land4,440 acres of park per 1,000 residents (16,968 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home31% 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 86%
LessMore
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 78%
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 Chazy Highlands Wild Forest, with 11 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Burnt Hill State Forest
Nature preserve
1,201 acres2.5 mi of trail
Terahee Truck Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Macomb State Forest
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
183 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Chazy Highlands State Forest
Nature preserve
6 acres0.1 mi of trail
Lyon Mountain Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
24,743 conserved acres
34% of Saranac’s land. Who manages Saranac’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation30,532 ac
Town or city26 ac
Other state land13 ac
State Conservation Area · 16,848 acForest Stewardship Easement · 7,172 acUnknown Easement · 5,780 acState Resource Management Area · 733 acLocal Park · 26 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 7,156 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 7 of 17 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chazy Highlands Wild Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 15,448 | Open |
| Burnt Hill State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 1,205 | Open |
| Macomb Reservation State Forest State Resource Management Area | State conservation | 733 | Open |
| Macomb State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 184 | Open |
| Town Of Saranac Land Local Park | Town or city | 26 | Unknown |
| New York State Lands State Other or Unknown | Other state land | 13 | Unknown |
| Chazy Highlands State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 7 | Open |
| Unclassified State Conservation Area | State conservation | 3 | Open |
Things to do
17 places to go in Saranac
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Saranac
4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Saranac
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Saranac
Lyon Mountain3,829 ft elevation · In Chazy Highlands Wild Forest
DirectionsAverill Peak3,802 ft elevation · In Chazy Highlands Wild Forest
DirectionsBrushy Knob2,904 ft elevation · In Chazy Highlands Wild Forest
DirectionsJohnson Mountain2,477 ft elevation · In Chazy Highlands Wild Forest
DirectionsHaystack Knob1,883 ft elevation · In Chazy Highlands Wild Forest
DirectionsBurnt Hill1,503 ft elevation · In Burnt Hill State Forest
DirectionsRussia Mountain1,404 ft elevation
DirectionsClark Hill1,375 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
9 named trails and 7 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 26.6 miUnpaved · 52.8 mi
S863.0 mi
Orange Loop2.2 mi
Ve Tr2.1 mi
Blue Loop2.0 mi
Old Rail Road Bed1.9 mi
Terahee Truck Trail1.9 mi
Red Loop1.6 mi
Lake Placid Branch1.2 mi
Lyon Mountain Trail0.4 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.
Courts & fields
6Baseball
4Tennis
2Pickleball
2Basketball
1Soccer
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Saranac: May, August 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) | 9.2 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 25 | 28 | 37 | 51 | 65 | 73 | 77 | 75 | 68 | 55 | 42 | 31 |
| Rain (in) | 2.6 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 4.4 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 4.3 | 2.9 | 2.9 |
February is the driest month (2.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 77 °F). 4.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Saranac →
Next door
Saranac and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Black Brook174 miPeru95 miFranklin83 miSaranac79 miSchuyler Falls41 miDannemora33 miPlattsburgh27 miRedford2.1 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saranac | 34% | 0.7 | 4,440 | 31% | A |
| Black Brook | 48% | 1.3 | 17,980 | 53% | A |
| Dannemora | 33% | 0.6 | 2,206 | 88% | A+ |
| Schuyler Falls | 6% | 1.1 | 262 | 35% | A− |
| Plattsburgh | 7% | 0.6 | 181 | 59% | A− |
| Redford | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Franklin | 73% | 0.5 | 33,839 | 87% | A+ |
| Peru | 16% | 1.2 | 1,041 | 39% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Saranac
Where can I hike in Saranac?
The longest trail networks: Chazy Highlands Wild Forest, 11 miles; Burnt Hill State Forest, 2.5 miles; Macomb State Forest, 0.5 miles; Chazy Highlands State Forest, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Saranac is conserved land?
34% 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 Saranac’s trails?
Chazy Highlands Wild Forest and Burnt Hill State Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Saranac?
103,170 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Saranac or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 17,675 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Saranac have?
Ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #168 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 Saranac 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 →