Happy Valley Wildlife Management Area
Nature preserve
1,671 acres4.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Photo: HYDROCHOERVS · CC BY-SA 4.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Williamstown
Williamstown has 1,775 acres of parks, 1,166 for every 1,000 residents
18% of Williamstown’s land is conserved, about 4,343 acres. The biggest trail networks: Happy Valley Wildlife Management Area (4.3 mi), Orton Hollow State Forest (0.5 mi). 53% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 82% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
18%
4,343 acres · of 38.7 sq mi of land
Trails
14 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,775 ac
1,166 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
53%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
9
What kind of outdoors town is Williamstown?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Williamstown have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Williamstown is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns. 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 Williamstown’s overall grade.
Conserved land18% of the land · typical NY town 5% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (14 mi) · NY 0.4 · U.S. 0.4BPark land1,166 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,775 acres) · NY 31 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home53% 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 82%
LessMore
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 Happy Valley WMA, with 4.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Orton Hollow State Forest
Nature preserve
327 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Kasoag State Forest
Nature preserve
1,041 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
O'Hara State Forest
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
7 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
4,343 conserved acres
18% of Williamstown’s land. Who manages Williamstown’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation3,072 ac
County1,304 ac
Town or city6 ac
State Resource Management Area · 1,683 acState Conservation Area · 1,380 acLocal Conservation Area · 915 acLocal Park · 395 acState Recreation Area · 8 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 10 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Happy Valley Wma State Resource Management Area | State conservation | 1,676 | Open |
| Kasoag State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 1,046 | Open |
| Oswego County Lands Local Conservation Area | County | 912 | Restricted |
| County Of Oswego Land Local Park | County | 389 | Unknown |
| Orton Hollow State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 327 | Open |
| Fish Creek Fishing Access State Recreation Area | State conservation | 8 | Open |
| Fishing Access State Resource Management Area | State conservation | 8 | Open |
| O'Hara State Forest State Conservation Area | State conservation | 7 | Open |
| Town Of Williamstown Land Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Unknown |
| Cooperative Extension Of Oswego County Lands Local Conservation Area | County | 3 | Restricted |
Things to do
3 places to go in Williamstown
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Williamstown
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Fishing spots in Williamstown
Fish Creek Fishing Access
DirectionsWest Branch Fish Creek Fishing Access
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 9 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 7.5 mi
Barclay Kasog 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
4Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Williamstown: May to 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) | 29 | 31 | 40 | 54 | 67 | 76 | 80 | 79 | 72 | 59 | 46 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 4.0 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 5.1 | 4.4 | 4.6 |
February is the driest month (3.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 80 °F). 5.1 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Williamstown →
Next door
Williamstown 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williamstown | 18% | 0.4 | 1,166 | 53% | A− |
| Amboy | 11% | 0.1 | 1,647 | 26% | B |
| Albion | 26% | 0.3 | 535 | 44% | A− |
| Orwell | 23% | 0.4 | 5,958 | 58% | A |
| Redfield | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Florence | — 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 Williamstown
Where can I hike in Williamstown?
The longest trail networks: Happy Valley Wildlife Management Area, 4.3 miles; Orton Hollow State Forest, 0.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Williamstown is conserved land?
18% 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 Williamstown’s trails?
Happy Valley Wildlife Management Area and Orton Hollow State Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Williamstown?
53,154 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Williamstown or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 3,454 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Williamstown have?
Ahead of 82% 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 Williamstown 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 →