Summer Hill State Forest
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
3,018 acres5.3 mi of trail
Snowmobile Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Photo: Skudrafan1 at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Summerhill
Summerhill has 3,402 acres of parks, 3,840 for every 1,000 residents
22% of Summerhill’s land is conserved, about 3,620 acres. The biggest trail networks: Summer Hill State Forest (5.3 mi). 40% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 77% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
22%
3,620 acres · of 25.9 sq mi of land
Trails
5.5 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
3,402 ac
3,840 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
40%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Summerhill?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Summerhill have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Summerhill is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Summerhill’s overall grade.
Conserved land22% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (6 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land3,840 acres of park per 1,000 residents (3,402 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home40% 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 77%
LessMore
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 Summer Hill State Forest, with 5.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Fillmore Glen State Park
Managed by New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
101 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
3,620 conserved acres
22% of Summerhill’s land. Who manages Summerhill’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation3,078 ac
Town or city266 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits180 ac
State parks102 ac
State Conservation Area · 3,016 acLocal Park · 266 acPrivate Conservation · 180 acState Park · 102 acConservation Easement · 62 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 57 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 7 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summer Hill State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 3,016 | Open |
| Groton The Village Of Land Local Park | Town or city | 264 | Unknown |
| McIlroy Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 154 | Closed |
| Fillmore Glen State Park State Park | State parks | 102 | Open |
| Cocca Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 26 | Closed |
| Summerhill Town of Land Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Unknown |
Trails & water
1 named trail and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Horses · 1.9 mi
Snowmobile Trail3.6 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
When to get out
The best walking months in Summerhill: May and August
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) | 29 | 32 | 40 | 53 | 66 | 74 | 78 | 77 | 70 | 57 | 45 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 3.0 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 3.4 | 3.5 |
February is the driest month (2.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 78 °F). 4.5 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Summerhill →
Next door
Summerhill 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summerhill | 22% | 0.2 | 3,840 | 40% | A− |
| Locke | 10% | 0.1 | 774 | 32% | B |
| Groton | 1% | 0.1 | 20 | 38% | C |
| Homer | 1% | under 0.1 | 10 | 55% | C |
| Sempronius | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Cortlandville | 2% | 0.3 | 49 | 55% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Summerhill
Where can I hike in Summerhill?
The longest trail networks: Summer Hill State Forest, 5.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Summerhill is conserved land?
22% 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 Summerhill’s trails?
Summer Hill State Forest and Fillmore Glen State Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Summerhill?
14,871 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Summerhill or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 3,402 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Summerhill have?
Ahead of 77% 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 Summerhill 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 →