Mayor James Cavanaugh Hudson Shores Park
Park
8 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Watervliet Arsenal · Public domainB+Outdoors
Outdoors in Watervliet
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Watervliet
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 0.9 miles of mapped trail cross Watervliet, 0.7 per square mile of land. 28 acres are parks and preserves, 2.7 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 65% of U.S. towns · #394 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
28 acres · of 1.3 sq mi of land
Trails
0.9 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
28 ac
2.7 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.1 mi
1.6 mi lanes · 0.4 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Watervliet?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Watervliet have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Watervliet is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns, #394 of 758 in New York. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Watervliet’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land2.7 acres of park per 1,000 residents (28 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · NY 70% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 65%
LessMore
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 48%
Water is 9% of Watervliet’s area (0 of 1 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 3%.
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 Mayor James Cavanaugh Hudson Shores Park, with 0.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Mohawk Hudson River Bike Trail Park
Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail
Watervliet Veterans Memorial Park
Park
2 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 8 parks & preserves
Mayor James Cavanaugh Hudson Shores Park8 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
DirectionsWatervliet Veterans Memorial Park2 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsMohawk Hudson River Bike Trail Park3 acres
DirectionsBrotherhood Park2 acres
DirectionsMaplewood Historic Park1 acres
DirectionsClinton Park1 acres
DirectionsPershing Green Memorial Park1 acres
Directions7th Street Park1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
28 conserved acres
3% of Watervliet’s land. Water is left out: Watervliet has 1.3 square miles of land and 0.1 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Watervliet’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city26 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government9 ac
Regional agency6 ac
Local Park · 35 acLocal Other or Unknown · 6 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 9 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| City Of Watervliet Land Local Park | Town or city | 16 | Unknown |
| Hudson Shores Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 9 | Open |
| City School District Land Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 6 | Unknown |
| Veterans Memorial Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Brotherhood Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Reds Field Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Clinton Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| 7Th Street Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Pershing Green Memorial Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
10 places to go in Watervliet
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Watervliet
Veterans Memorial Swimming PoolIn Watervliet Veterans Memorial Park
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Watervliet
6 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Picnic areas in Watervliet
3 picnic areas without a name on the map.
Biking & sports
2.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.6 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
0.4 mi
off-road bike paths
0.1 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
6Baseball
5Basketball
3Tennis
2Football
1Soccer
1Softball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →5 places on the National Register, one a National Historic Landmark
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 2 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Watervliet: April and May
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 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 33 | 36 | 45 | 59 | 71 | 79 | 84 | 82 | 75 | 62 | 49 | 38 |
| Rain (in) | 2.6 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 2.9 | 3.2 |
February is the driest month (2.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.3 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Watervliet →
Next door
Watervliet 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watervliet | 3% | 0.7 | 3 | 99%+ | B+ |
| Colonie | 7% | 1.4 | 29 | 78% | A− |
| Latham | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Green Island | 5% | 0.7 | 9 | 99%+ | A− |
| Green Island | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Troy | 8% | 2.2 | 10 | 96% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Watervliet
Where can I hike in Watervliet?
The longest trail networks: Mayor James Cavanaugh Hudson Shores Park, 0.4 miles; Watervliet Veterans Memorial Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Watervliet is conserved land?
3% 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 Watervliet’s trails?
Mayor James Cavanaugh Hudson Shores Park and Mohawk Hudson River Bike Trail Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Watervliet?
2.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.6 of painted or protected lanes, 0.4 of off-road paths and 0.1 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Watervliet?
11,516 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Watervliet or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 28 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Watervliet have?
Ahead of 65% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #394 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 Watervliet 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 →