Danby State Forest
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
325 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
First Presbyterian Church · Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Spencer
Spencer has 344 acres of parks, 118 for every 1,000 residents
24% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 2% of Spencer’s land is conserved, about 524 acres. 5.7 miles of mapped trail cross Spencer, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 41% of U.S. towns · #619 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
524 acres · of 49.1 sq mi of land
Trails
5.7 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
344 ac
118 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
24%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,512 ft
West Hill
Lakes & rivers
4
What kind of outdoors town is Spencer?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Spencer have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Spencer is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns, #619 of 758 in New York. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Spencer’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (6 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4CPark land118 acres of park per 1,000 residents (344 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13AParks close to home24% 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 41%
LessMore
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 18%
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
524 conserved acres
2% of Spencer’s land. Who manages Spencer’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation325 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits159 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)73 ac
Town or city21 ac
State Conservation Area · 325 acUnknown Easement · 152 acConservation Easement · 73 acLocal Park · 21 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 8 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 170 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 7 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Danby State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 325 | Open |
| Village Of Spencer Land Local Park | Town or city | 21 | Unknown |
| Spencer-Van Etten Lands Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 8 | Closed |
Things to do
4 places to go in Spencer
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Spencer
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Peaks in Spencer
West Hill1,512 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
4 lakes & rivers
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
5Baseball
3Soccer
2Football
1Basketball
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 Spencer: May and July
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 | 15.2 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| High (°F) | 32 | 35 | 43 | 57 | 69 | 77 | 82 | 80 | 73 | 60 | 47 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.5 | 2.1 | 2.9 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 4.1 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 2.8 | 2.8 |
February is the driest month (2.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.1 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Spencer →
Next door
Spencer and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Spencer
How much of Spencer 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 Spencer’s trails?
Danby State Forest doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Spencer?
30,704 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Spencer or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 344 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Spencer have?
Ahead of 41% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #619 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 Spencer 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 →