Settles Mountain Nature Preserve
Managed by Schoharie Land Trust
142 acres2.3 mi of trail
Yellow TrailOrange TrailWhite TrailBlue Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
DOutdoors
Outdoors in Seward
Seward has 5.8 miles of mapped trails, 0.2 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Settles Mountain Nature Preserve (2.3 mi). 3% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 8% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
45 acres · of 36.4 sq mi of land
Trails
5.8 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Near a park
3%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,722 ft
Pine Hill
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Seward have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Seward is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; trail miles come closest.
D
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Seward’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%C−Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (6 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land0.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (0 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13DParks close to home3% of residents within a half mile of a park · NY 70% · U.S. 72%D
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 8%
LessMore
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Seward. 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 still be D. 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 Settles Mountain Nature Preserve, with 2.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
45 conserved acres
under 1% of Seward’s land. Who manages Seward’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
USDA easements (NRCS)45 ac
Conservation Easement · 45 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.
Things to do
1 places to go in Seward
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Seward
Pine Hill1,722 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
4 named trails
Named trails
Unpaved · 2.4 mi
Yellow Trail1.4 mi
Orange Trail0.5 mi
White Trail0.4 mi
Red Trail0.1 mi
When to get out
The best walking months in Seward: 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) | 31 | 33 | 42 | 55 | 68 | 76 | 80 | 78 | 71 | 59 | 46 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 2.6 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 3.7 | 4.0 | 2.9 | 3.1 |
February is the driest month (2.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 4.2 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Seward →
Next door
Seward and its neighbors
Seward has the second most mapped trails of the 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seward | under 1% | 0.2 | under 1 | 3% | D |
| Sharon | 3% | under 0.1 | 288 | 35% | B− |
| Richmondville | 1% | 0.1 | 9 | 36% | C |
| Roseboom | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Decatur | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Cobleskill | 4% | 0.3 | 106 | 55% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Seward
Where can I hike in Seward?
The longest trail networks: Settles Mountain Nature Preserve, 2.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Seward is conserved land?
under 1% 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 Seward’s trails?
Settles Mountain Nature Preserve doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Seward?
23,515 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Seward or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), almost none of it inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Seward have?
Ahead of 8% 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 Seward 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 →