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White Creek Historic District Methodist (Baptist) Church Nov 10Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, Upstate New York, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0
A−Outdoors
Outdoors in White Creek

White Creek has 3,674 acres of parks, 1,127 for every 1,000 residents

13% of White Creek’s land is conserved, about 4,070 acres. The biggest trail networks: New Skete Monastery (7.5 mi), Mount Tom State Forest (4.2 mi), Cambridge Community Forest (2.6 mi). 30% of residents live within a half mile of a park.

Ahead of 76% of U.S. towns · #273 of 758 in New York. What drives it

Conserved land
13%
4,070 acres · of 47.9 sq mi of land
Trails
21 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
3,674 ac
1,127 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
30%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,732 ft
Two Tops
Lakes & rivers
1

What kind of outdoors town is White Creek?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Room to roam1,127 acres of park per 1,000 residents; the typical U.S. town has 13.Land that stays wild13% of the land is conserved; a typical New York town, 5%.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does White Creek have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, White Creek is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns, #273 of 758 in New York. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.

A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of White Creek’s overall grade.
Conserved land13% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (21 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4BPark land1,127 acres of park per 1,000 residents (3,674 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home30% 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 76%
LessMore
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 64%
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.

123456
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 New Skete Monastery, with 7.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

New Skete Monastery

Park
507 acres7.5 mi of trail
(Red)(Blue)(yellow)(Yellow)+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Mount Tom State Forest

Nature preserve
1,705 acres4.2 mi of trail
Shaker Hollow Loop
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗

Cambridge Community Forest

Managed by Agricultural Stewardship Association
140 acres2.6 mi of trail
Orange TrailYellow TrailBlue TrailSensory Trail+1
Dogs on leash
Directionsto the trailhead

Chestnut Woods State Forest

Nature preserve
781 acres0.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗

Bennington Battlefield State Historic Site

Managed by New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
48 acres0.5 mi of trail
Valley Trail (blue)
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗

Goose Egg State Forest

Nature preserve
441 acres0.4 mi of trail
Folded Rock Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
All 7 parks & preserves
New Skete Monastery507 acres · 7.5 mi of trail
Directions
Mount Tom State Forest1,705 acres · 4.2 mi of trail
Cambridge Community Forest140 acres · 2.6 mi of trail · Agricultural Stewardship Association
Directions
Chestnut Woods State Forest781 acres · 0.8 mi of trail
Bennington Battlefield State Historic Site48 acres · 0.5 mi of trail · New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
Goose Egg State Forest441 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
Batten Kill State Forest10 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Who protects it

4,070 conserved acres

13% of White Creek’s land. Who manages White Creek’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

State conservation2,958 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits2,118 ac
State parks49 ac
State Conservation Area · 2,958 acAgricultural Easement · 2,118 acState Historic or Cultural Area · 49 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,064 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Mount Tom State Forest
State Conservation Area
State conservation1,716Open
Chestnut Woods State Forest
State Conservation Area
State conservation786Open
Goose Egg State Forest
State Conservation Area
State conservation446Open
Bennington Battlefield State Historic Site
State Historic or Cultural Area
State parks49Open
Batten Kill State Forest
State Conservation Area
State conservation11Open
Things to do

7 places to go in White Creek

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Peaks in White Creek
Two Tops1,732 ft elevation · In New Skete Monastery
Directions
Peaked Rock1,591 ft elevation
Directions
Barber Hills1,542 ft elevation
Directions
Sugarloaf1,250 ft elevation
Directions
Trails & water

17 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Unpaved · 13.3 mi
(Red)2.8 mi
Shaker Hollow Loop1.5 mi
(Blue)1.0 mi
(yellow)0.9 mi
(Orange)0.9 mi
(Yellow)0.8 mi
Orange Trail0.6 mi
(orange)0.6 mi
Yellow Trail0.6 mi
Valley Trail (blue)0.5 mi
7 more trails
Folded Rock Trail
0.4 mi
Blue Trail
0.4 mi
Sensory Trail
0.3 mi
(blue)
0.2 mi
(red)
0.2 mi
(Red/Yellow)
0.1 mi
Natural Play Area Trail
0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Owl Kill
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
4Baseball
3Soccer
1Football
1Basketball
1Tennis

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

2 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 4 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.

History →
Cambridge Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1978
About it
White Creek Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1979
About it
When to get out

May is the best month for walking in White Creek

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.310.511.813.314.615.315.013.912.410.99.79.0
High (°F)313442576876817972604736
Rain (in)2.82.22.63.23.54.34.24.44.13.93.23.3

February is the driest month (2.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 4.4 inches fall in August, the wettest month. The climate in White Creek →

Next door

White Creek and its neighbors

White Creek has the most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

White Creek21 miHoosick20 miShaftsbury14 miCambridge3.8 miJackson2.6 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
White Creek13%0.41,12730%A−
Hoosick9%0.319359%A−
Cambridge— not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Jackson12%0.169836%B

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in White Creek

Where can I hike in White Creek?

The longest trail networks: New Skete Monastery, 7.5 miles; Mount Tom State Forest, 4.2 miles; Cambridge Community Forest, 2.6 miles; Chestnut Woods State Forest, 0.8 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of White Creek is conserved land?

13% 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 White Creek’s trails?

OpenStreetMap records dogs as welcome at Cambridge Community Forest (on leash). For the rest, check the signs at the trailhead.

Is there public land near White Creek?

30,847 acres of parks and open public land lie inside White Creek or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 3,674 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does White Creek have?

Ahead of 76% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #273 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 White Creek neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →