Hinchcliff Family Preserve
Nature preserve
212 acres2.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Borodino Hall · Photo: Lvklock · CC BY-SA 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Spafford
Spafford has 862 acres of parks, 480 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Hinchcliff Family Preserve (2.1 mi). 9% of Spafford’s land is conserved, about 1,887 acres. 16% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 64% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
9%
1,887 acres · of 32.6 sq mi of land
Trails
9.1 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
862 ac
480 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
16%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,982 ft
Ripley Hill
Lakes & rivers
1
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Spafford?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Spafford have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Spafford is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns. 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 Spafford’s overall grade.
Conserved land9% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (9 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land480 acres of park per 1,000 residents (862 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home16% 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 64%
LessMore
Water is 17% of Spafford’s area (7 of 39 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 8%.
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 Hinchcliff Family Preserve, with 2.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Withey Parcel
Managed by Onondaga County
151 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Otisco Lake Preserve
Managed by Finger Lakes Land Trust
39 acres0.4 mi of trail
Otisco Lake Preserve Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Moon Hill Reforestation Area
Nature preserve
118 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 9 parks & preserves
Hinchcliff Family Preserve212 acres · 2.1 mi of trail
DirectionsWithey Parcel151 acres · 0.4 mi of trail · Onondaga County
Otisco Lake Preserve39 acres · 0.4 mi of trail · Finger Lakes Land Trust
DirectionsRipley Hill Nature Preserve116 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Moon Hill Reforestation Area118 acres
DirectionsHigh Hickory Wildlife Sanctuary78 acres
Cora Kampfe Dickinson Conservation Area21 acres
Otisco Lake Waterway Access Site17 acres · New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
DirectionsHigh Vista Nature Preserve1 acres
Who protects it
1,887 conserved acres
9% of Spafford’s land. Water is left out: Spafford has 32.6 square miles of land and 6.5 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Spafford’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County836 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)774 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits259 ac
State conservation18 ac
Local Park · 836 acAgricultural Easement · 764 acPrivate Conservation · 198 acUnknown Easement · 60 acState Recreation Area · 18 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 835 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 10 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spafford County Forest Local Park | County | 820 | Open |
| Ripley Hill Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 117 | Closed |
| High Hickory Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 81 | Closed |
| Otisco Lake Waterway Access Site State Recreation Area | State conservation | 18 | Open |
| Onondaga County Water, Authority Land Local Park | County | 17 | Unknown |
Things to do
5 places to go in Spafford
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Spafford
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Waterfalls in Spafford
Bucktail Falls
DirectionsScenic views in Spafford
1 scenic view without a name on the map.
Peaks in Spafford
Ripley Hill1,982 ft elevation · In Ripley Hill Nature Preserve
DirectionsGifford Hill1,890 ft elevation · In Withey Parcel
DirectionsTrails & water
2 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 8.9 mi
Ripley Hill Trail1.0 mi
Otisco Lake Preserve 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
2Tennis
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).
When to get out
The best walking months in Spafford: 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) | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 29 | 31 | 39 | 53 | 66 | 74 | 78 | 76 | 70 | 57 | 45 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 3.0 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.4 | 3.6 | 3.6 |
February is the driest month (2.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 78 °F). 4.5 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Spafford →
Next door
Spafford and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spafford | 9% | 0.3 | 480 | 16% | B |
| Otisco | 1% | under 0.1 | 59 | 30% | C |
| Skaneateles | 2% | 0.4 | 10 | 50% | C+ |
| Niles | 5% | 0.2 | 694 | 12% | B− |
| Scott | 8% | 0.1 | 917 | 29% | B |
| Sempronius | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Tully | 3% | 0.4 | 8 | 41% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Spafford
Where can I hike in Spafford?
The longest trail networks: Hinchcliff Family Preserve, 2.1 miles; Withey Parcel, 0.4 miles; Otisco Lake Preserve, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Spafford is conserved land?
9% 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 Spafford’s trails?
Hinchcliff Family Preserve and Withey Parcel don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Spafford?
19,029 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Spafford or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 862 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Spafford have?
Ahead of 64% 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 Spafford 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 →