Golden Hill State Park
Managed by New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
365 acres4.3 mi of trail
Blue TrailGreen TrailInterpretive TrailRed Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Somerset
Somerset has 387 acres of parks, 127 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Golden Hill State Park (4.3 mi). 25% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 2% of Somerset’s land is conserved, about 460 acres.
Ahead of 48% of U.S. towns · #568 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
460 acres · of 37.1 sq mi of land
Trails
9.4 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
387 ac
127 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
25%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
2 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Somerset?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Somerset have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Somerset is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns, #568 of 758 in New York. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Somerset’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (9 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land127 acres of park per 1,000 residents (387 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13AParks close to home25% 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 48%
LessMore
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 25%
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 Golden Hill State Park, with 4.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Barker Bi-Centennial Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
460 conserved acres
2% of Somerset’s land. Who manages Somerset’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State parks365 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits79 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government15 ac
Town or city1 ac
State Park · 365 acAgricultural Easement · 77 acLocal Park · 16 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 2 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 77 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 5 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Hill State Park State Park | State parks | 365 | Open |
| Somerset Town Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 15 | Open |
| YMCA Lands Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 2 | Closed |
| Village Of Barker Land Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Unknown |
Things to do
5 places to go in Somerset
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Somerset
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Somerset
2 boat launches without a name on the map.
Trails & water
4 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Blue Trail1.6 mi
Green Trail1.3 mi
Interpretive Trail1.0 mi
Red 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
9Baseball
6Tennis
2Soccer
2Basketball
1Volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Thirty Mile Point LightDistrict · listed 1984
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Somerset: 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 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 32 | 33 | 41 | 52 | 65 | 74 | 79 | 78 | 71 | 59 | 48 | 38 |
| Rain (in) | 2.2 | 1.9 | 2.2 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 3.2 | 2.8 | 2.6 |
February is the driest month (1.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 79 °F). 3.4 inches fall in September, the wettest month. The climate in Somerset →
Next door
Somerset and its neighbors
Somerset has the most mapped trails of the 4 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Somerset
Where can I hike in Somerset?
The longest trail networks: Golden Hill State Park, 4.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Somerset is conserved land?
2% 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 Somerset’s trails?
Golden Hill State Park and Barker Bi-Centennial Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Somerset?
2,704 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Somerset or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 387 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Somerset have?
Ahead of 48% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #568 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 Somerset 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 →