Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge
Managed by United States Fish and Wildlife Service
5,489 acres3.5 mi of trail
Feeder TrailRingneck Marsh TrailMohawk Pool Trail
Dogs on leash
Directionsto Feeder Rd Parking F
Millville Cemetery · Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Shelby
19% of Shelby’s land is conserved: 5,750 acres
The biggest trail networks: Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge (3.5 mi). 31 acres are parks and preserves, 6.4 per 1,000 residents. 5.7 miles of mapped trail cross Shelby, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 49% of U.S. towns · #551 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Conserved land
19%
5,750 acres · of 46.4 sq mi of land
Trails
5.7 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
31 ac
6.4 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
56%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.9 mi
0.9 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
5
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Shelby?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Shelby have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Shelby is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns, #551 of 758 in New York. Conserved land holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Shelby’s overall grade.
Conserved land19% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (6 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4CPark land6.4 acres of park per 1,000 residents (31 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home56% of residents within a half mile of a park · NY 70% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 49%
LessMore
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 27%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B. 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 Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, with 3.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Tonawanda Wildlife Management Area
Nature preserve
244 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Oak Orchard Wildlife Management Area
Nature preserve
97 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
John E Butts Memorial Park
Park
18 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
5,750 conserved acres
19% of Shelby’s land. Who manages Shelby’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service10,707 ac
State conservation361 ac
Town or city40 ac
Other state land12 ac
Regional agency4 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government2 ac
National Wildlife Refuge · 10,707 acState Resource Management Area · 361 acLocal Park · 41 acState Recreation Area · 12 acLocal Other or Unknown · 4 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 3 of 11 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 10,707 | Restricted |
| Tonawanda Wma State Resource Management Area | State conservation | 263 | Open |
| Oak Orchard Wma State Resource Management Area | State conservation | 98 | Open |
| South Main Street Park Local Park | Town or city | 21 | Open |
| Village of Medina Land Local Park | Town or city | 19 | Unknown |
| Erie Canal State Recreation Area | Other state land | 12 | Open |
| Medina Central School District Land Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 4 | Unknown |
| Medina Village Lands Local Resource Management Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 1 | Open |
| Town Of Shelby Land Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Unknown |
| Medina Park Lands Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 1 | Open |
Things to do
8 places to go in Shelby
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Shelby
5 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Shelby
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Fishing spots in Shelby
Ringneck Marsh Fishing PlatformIn Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge
DirectionsPlus 1 fishing spot without a name on the map.
Trails & water
2 named trails and 5 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 2.4 mi
Feeder Trail0.3 mi
Ringneck Marsh Trail0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.9 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
6Tennis
6Baseball
2Multi-sport
1Soccer
1Football
1Skate park
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 2 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Shelby: May 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) | 9.3 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 31 | 34 | 42 | 55 | 68 | 76 | 81 | 79 | 72 | 60 | 48 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.5 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 2.9 | 2.9 |
February is the driest month (2.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 3.6 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Shelby →
Next door
Shelby and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Shelby
Where can I hike in Shelby?
The longest trail networks: Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, 3.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Shelby is conserved land?
19% 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 Shelby’s trails?
OpenStreetMap records dogs as welcome at Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge (on leash). For the rest, check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Shelby?
0.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.9 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Shelby?
11,136 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Shelby or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 384 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Shelby have?
Ahead of 49% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #551 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 Shelby 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 →