The Saddles State Forest
Nature preserve
507 acres3.9 mi of trail
White trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Photo: Doug Kerr from Upstate New York · CC BY-SA 2.0A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Whitehall
Whitehall has 579 acres of parks, 215 for every 1,000 residents
16% of Whitehall’s land is conserved, about 597 acres. 6.6 miles of mapped trail cross Whitehall, 1.2 per square mile of land. 92% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 96% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
16%
597 acres · of 5.6 sq mi of land
Trails
6.6 mi
1.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
579 ac
215 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
92%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
531 ft
Skene Mountain
Lakes & rivers
2
3 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Whitehall?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Room to roam215 acres of park per 1,000 residents; the typical U.S. town has 13.Land that stays wild16% of the land is conserved; a typical New York town, 5%.A trail town1.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 84% of U.S. towns.History along the way5 places on the National Register.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Whitehall have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Whitehall is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns. 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 Whitehall’s overall grade.
Conserved land16% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%ATrails1.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (7 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land215 acres of park per 1,000 residents (579 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13AParks close to home92% of residents within a half mile of a park · NY 70% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 96%
LessMore
Water is 17% of Whitehall’s area (1 of 7 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 14%.
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.
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 The Saddles State Forest, with 3.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
597 conserved acres
16% of Whitehall’s land. Water is left out: Whitehall has 5.6 square miles of land and 1.2 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Whitehall’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation510 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits54 ac
Other state land39 ac
Town or city21 ac
State Conservation Area · 510 acPrivate Conservation · 54 acState Recreation Area · 39 acLocal Park · 21 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 6 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Saddles State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 510 | Open |
| Southern Lake Champlain Valley Preserve Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 54 | Restricted |
| Champlain Canal State Recreation Area | Other state land | 39 | Open |
| Whitehall Village Of Land Local Park | Town or city | 16 | Unknown |
| Whitehall Town Of Land Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Unknown |
Things to do
5 places to go in Whitehall
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Whitehall
3 boat launches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Scenic views in Whitehall
1 scenic view without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Whitehall
Skene Mountain531 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 4.0 mi
White trail2.5 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
3Tennis
3Baseball
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Whitehall: May 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) | 9.3 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°F) | 30 | 33 | 43 | 57 | 69 | 78 | 82 | 80 | 72 | 60 | 47 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 2.7 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.4 | 4.1 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 3.0 | 3.2 |
February is the driest month (2.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.1 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Whitehall →
Next door
Whitehall and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Whitehall
Where can I hike in Whitehall?
The longest trail networks: The Saddles State Forest, 3.9 miles; Riverside Park, 0.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Whitehall is conserved land?
16% 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 Whitehall’s trails?
The Saddles State Forest and Riverside Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Whitehall?
50,527 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Whitehall or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 579 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Whitehall have?
Ahead of 96% 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 Whitehall 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 →