Coles Creek State Park
Managed by New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
1,073 acres0.1 mi of trail
Norwood and St. Lawrence Railroad
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Photo: Fergo22 · CC BY-SA 4.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Waddington
Waddington has 1,132 acres of parks, 560 for every 1,000 residents
6% of Waddington’s land is conserved, about 1,865 acres. 43% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 13 miles of mapped trail cross Waddington, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 66% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
1,865 acres · of 51.6 sq mi of land
Trails
13 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,132 ac
560 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
43%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
2
1 beach · 1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Waddington?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Waddington have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Waddington is ahead of 66% 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 Waddington’s overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (13 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land560 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,132 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home43% 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 66%
LessMore
Water is 11% of Waddington’s area (6 of 58 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 5%.
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 Coles Creek State Park, with 0.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Swallow Bluffs Wildlife Management Area
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
19 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Whitaker Park
Park
10 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Waddington Forest Preserve Detached Parcel
Nature preserve
10 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
1,865 conserved acres
6% of Waddington’s land. Water is left out: Waddington has 51.6 square miles of land and 6.4 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Waddington’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State parks1,107 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)728 ac
State conservation28 ac
Town or city4 ac
State Park · 1,107 acConservation Easement · 728 acState Resource Management Area · 18 acState Conservation Area · 10 acLocal Park · 4 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 726 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 14 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coles Creek State Park State Park | State parks | 1,107 | Open |
| Swallow Bluffs Wma State Resource Management Area | State conservation | 18 | Open |
| Waddington Fp Detached Parcel State Conservation Area | State conservation | 10 | Open |
| Town of Waddington Land Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Unknown |
| Village Of Waddington Exempt Land Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Unknown |
Things to do
2 places to go in Waddington
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Waddington
Waddington Beach
DirectionsBoat launches in Waddington
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
2 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Norwood and St. Lawrence Railroad4.0 mi
Coles Creek State Park Trail1.8 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
3Baseball
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 Waddington: 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) | 9.1 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.0 | 12.5 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 26 | 28 | 38 | 53 | 67 | 76 | 80 | 79 | 71 | 57 | 44 | 32 |
| Rain (in) | 2.6 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 3.9 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 2.9 |
February is the driest month (2.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 4.0 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Waddington →
Next door
Waddington and its neighbors
Waddington has the second most mapped trails of the 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waddington | 6% | 0.2 | 560 | 43% | B+ |
| Madrid | 7% | 0.2 | 854 | 37% | B |
| Lisbon | 3% | 0.1 | 193 | 11% | C+ |
| Louisville | 21% | 0.4 | 624 | 14% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Waddington
Where can I hike in Waddington?
The longest trail networks: Coles Creek State Park, 0.1 miles; Whitaker Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Waddington is conserved land?
6% 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 Waddington’s trails?
Coles Creek State Park and Swallow Bluffs Wildlife Management Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Waddington?
13,673 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Waddington or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,151 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Waddington have?
Ahead of 66% 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 Waddington 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 →