Great Bear Recreational area
Park
428 acres11.1 mi of trail
440 RidgeLong TrailLower Turtle TrailDrumlin Trails+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto Great Bear Recreational
B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Volney
Volney has 555 acres of parks, 98 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Great Bear Recreational area (11.1 mi). 2% of Volney’s land is conserved, about 484 acres. 32% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 49% of U.S. towns · #555 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
484 acres · of 48.2 sq mi of land
Trails
14 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
555 ac
98 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
32%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.5 mi
3.5 mi paths
Highest peak
505 ft
Bristol Hill
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Volney?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Volney have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Volney is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns, #555 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 Volney’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 (14 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land98 acres of park per 1,000 residents (555 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13AParks close to home32% 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 49%
LessMore
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 27%
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 Great Bear Recreational area, with 11.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Curtiss Gale Wildlife Management Area
Nature preserve
45 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
484 conserved acres
2% of Volney’s land. Who manages Volney’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city291 ac
Joint288 ac
Other state land82 ac
State conservation47 ac
County32 ac
Regional Water Districts11 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government2 ac
Local Park · 313 acLocal Recreation Area · 288 acState Recreation Area · 82 acState Resource Management Area · 47 acLocal Other or Unknown · 11 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 5 of 10 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Bear Recreational Area Local Recreation Area | Joint | 288 | Open |
| City Of Fulton Land Local Park | Town or city | 183 | Unknown |
| Town Of Volney Land Local Park | Town or city | 109 | Unknown |
| Oswego Canal State Recreation Area | Other state land | 82 | Open |
| Curtiss Gale Wma State Resource Management Area | State conservation | 47 | Open |
| County of Oswego Land Local Park | County | 22 | Unknown |
| Metropolitan Water Board Land Local Other or Unknown | Regional Water Districts | 11 | Unknown |
| Oswego County Lands Local Conservation Area | County | 10 | Restricted |
| Volney Town Lands Local Resource Management Area | Other or Unknown Local Government | 2 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Volney
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Volney
Bristol Hill505 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
23 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 5.0 miHorses · 8.1 mi
440 Ridge1.2 mi
Long Trail0.7 mi
Lower Turtle Trail0.7 mi
Drumlin Trails0.5 mi
Whiskey Island0.4 mi
Deer Run0.4 mi
Root Hill0.4 mi
Scotch Pines Trail0.4 mi
Flintstone Wheel Wash (Turtle Trail)0.3 mi
Pumphouse Trail0.3 mi
13 more trails
Mishamokwa Springs
0.3 miHighline Trail
0.3 miSpring Hollow
0.2 miTowpath
0.2 miStone Bridge Trail
0.2 miHomestead Trail
0.2 miSix South
0.2 miSix North
0.2 miAlec's Trail
0.2 miBack
0.1 miCouch Hill Stone Stairs
0.1 miBench Cutoff
0.1 miSix Rocks
0.1 miLakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
3.5 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
3.5 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
4Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →4 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 Volney: 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) | 30 | 32 | 41 | 55 | 67 | 76 | 80 | 79 | 72 | 59 | 47 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 3.6 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 3.6 | 3.5 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 4.6 | 4.0 | 3.9 |
February is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 4.6 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Volney →
Next door
Volney and its neighbors
Volney has the most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volney | 2% | 0.3 | 98 | 32% | B− |
| Granby | 2% | 0.1 | 86 | 26% | C+ |
| Schroeppel | 4% | 0.1 | 115 | 50% | B |
| Palermo | 1% | under 0.1 | 16 | 3% | C− |
| Scriba | 4% | 0.2 | 31 | 17% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Volney
Where can I hike in Volney?
The longest trail networks: Great Bear Recreational area, 11.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Volney 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 Volney’s trails?
Great Bear Recreational area and Curtiss Gale Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Volney?
3.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.5 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Volney?
11,159 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Volney or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 602 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Volney have?
Ahead of 49% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #555 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 Volney 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 →