Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Wawarsing has 20,408 acres of parks, 1,628 for every 1,000 residents
28% of Wawarsing’s land is conserved, about 23,442 acres. The biggest trail networks: Minnewaska State Park Preserve (36.7 mi), Vernooy Kill State Forest (15.6 mi), Trout Creek Unit (4 mi). 98 miles of mapped trail cross Wawarsing, 0.8 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns · #90 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Conserved land
28%
23,442 acres · of 130.5 sq mi of land
Trails
98 mi
0.8 per sq mi of land
Park land
20,408 ac
1,628 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
70%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
18 mi
18 mi paths
Highest peak
2,293 ft
East Mountain
Lakes & rivers
11
1 beach · 2 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Wawarsing?
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, Wawarsing is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #90 of 758 in New York. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; park acres per resident rank highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Wawarsing’s overall grade.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− 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.
28% of Wawarsing’s land. Who manages Wawarsing’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State parks12,541 ac
State conservation10,642 ac
Town or city1,158 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits371 ac
Other state land53 ac
State Conservation Area · 19,710 acOther Easement · 1,346 acRecreation or Education Easement · 909 acConservation Easement · 872 acWatershed Protection Area · 511 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2,374 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 11 of 48 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)
Managed by
Acres
Public access
Minnewaska State Park Preserve
State Conservation Area
State parks
12,541
Open
Vernooy Kill State Forest
State Conservation Area
State conservation
3,613
Open
Sundown Wild Forest
State Conservation Area
State conservation
2,020
Open
Shawangunk Ridge State Forest
Private Conservation
Land trusts & nonprofits
889
Closed
Witch'S Hole State Forest
State Conservation Area
State conservation
590
Open
New York City Watershed
Watershed Protection Area
Town or city
511
Closed
Town of Wawarsing Land
Local Park
Town or city
261
Unknown
Rondout Fishing Access Area
Local Other or Unknown
Town or city
217
Unknown
Oak Ridge Multiple Use Area
State Resource Management Area
State conservation
97
Open
Glazer
Private Conservation
Land trusts & nonprofits
97
Closed
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
97 places to go in Wawarsing
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Wawarsing
Lake Awosting BeachIn Minnewaska State Park Preserve
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
18 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
21Tennis
13Baseball
10Basketball
3Soccer
2Beach volleyball
2Equestrian
1Multi-sport
1Field hockey
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
12 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 6 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
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)
9.5
10.5
11.8
13.3
14.5
15.2
14.9
13.8
12.4
11.0
9.8
9.2
High (°F)
33
36
45
58
69
77
82
80
73
61
49
38
Rain (in)
3.7
2.9
3.8
3.9
4.0
5.0
4.9
4.9
5.1
5.0
3.9
4.3
February is the driest month (2.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 5.1 inches fall in September, the wettest month. The climate in Wawarsing →
Next door
Wawarsing and its neighbors
Wawarsing has the most mapped trails of the 8 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
— not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Wawarsing
Where can I hike in Wawarsing?
The longest trail networks: Minnewaska State Park Preserve, 36.7 miles; Vernooy Kill State Forest, 15.6 miles; Trout Creek Unit, 4 miles; Shawangunk Ridge State Forest, 3.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Wawarsing is conserved land?
28% 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 Wawarsing’s trails?
Minnewaska State Park Preserve and Vernooy Kill State Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Wawarsing?
18 miles of bike routes are on the map: 18 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Wawarsing?
101,756 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Wawarsing or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 20,636 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Wawarsing have?
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #90 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 Wawarsing neighbors.
Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0