Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: LBM1948 · CC BY-SA 4.0The biggest trail networks: Taughannock Falls State Park (6.7 mi). 5% of Ulysses’ land is conserved, about 1,143 acres. 14 miles of mapped trail cross Ulysses, 0.4 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 73% of U.S. towns · #320 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Ulysses is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns, #320 of 758 in New York. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
Water is 11% of Ulysses’ area (4 of 37 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 5%.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
The longest trail network is Taughannock Falls State Park, with 6.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
5% of Ulysses’ land. Water is left out: Ulysses has 32.9 square miles of land and 4.0 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Ulysses’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 111 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 13 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taughannock Falls State Park State Park | State parks | 819 | Open |
| Cayuga Preventorium Lands Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 92 | Closed |
| Black Diamond Trail State Recreation Area | State parks | 67 | Open |
| Cayuga Nature Center Lands Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 44 | Closed |
| Lauman Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 6 | Closed |
| Culver Donation State Park | Land trusts & nonprofits | 5 | Open |
| Trumansburg Village Lands Local Resource Management Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 3 | Open |
| Village of Trumansburg Land Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Unknown |
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
1 swimming spot without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
6 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Plus 7 waterfalls without a name on the map.
Plus 1 scenic view without a name on the map.
1 campground without a name on the map.
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
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) | 32 | 35 | 43 | 56 | 69 | 77 | 82 | 80 | 73 | 60 | 48 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.2 | 1.9 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 2.8 | 2.7 |
February is the driest month (1.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.0 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Ulysses →
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
The longest trail networks: Taughannock Falls State Park, 6.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
5% 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.
Taughannock Falls State Park and Jacksonville Community Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
7.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 5.7 of off-road paths and 1.6 of shoulders and shared lanes.
32,035 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Ulysses or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 930 of them inside the town line.
Ahead of 73% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #320 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.
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Ulysses neighbors.
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 →