1
Steege Hill Nature Preserve
Managed by Finger Lakes Land Trust
839 acres6.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Outdoors · Big Flats
Big Flats, NY parks, trails & bike paths
About 7.9% of Big Flats is conserved land, roughly 2,276 acres. There are about 24 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Steege Hill Nature Preserve (6.9 mi), Plymouth Woods Nature Preserve (1.6 mi), and Big Flats Community Park (1.5 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Big Flats, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Big Flats outdoors
Conserved land
7.9%
2,276 of 28,677 acres
Trails
24 mi
0.5 mi per sq mi · 17 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
11
300 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
2.3 mi
0.0 mi lanes · 2.3 mi off-road paths
Conserved land is a share of the whole town area. Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number or a place below to zoom in© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Parks & preserves with trails
Ranked by mapped trail miles. Directions go to the nearest marked trailhead or public parking.
2
Plymouth Woods Nature Preserve
Managed by Finger Lakes Land Trust
89 acres1.6 mi of trail
Plymouth Woods Nature Preserve Trails
Dog rules not recorded
3
Big Flats Community Park
Managed by Town of Big Flats
99 acres1.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
4
Sperr Memorial Park
Park
74 acres1.4 mi of trail
Big Flats Trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
5
Whitney Park
Park
20 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
6
Big Flats Wildlife Management Area
Managed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
127 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Website
All 11 parks & preserves
Showing 1–10 of 11 parks & preserves
Steege Hill Nature Preserve839 acres · 6.9 mi of trail · Finger Lakes Land Trust
Plymouth Woods Nature Preserve89 acres · 1.6 mi of trail · Finger Lakes Land Trust
Big Flats Community Park99 acres · 1.5 mi of trail · Town of Big Flats
Sperr Memorial Park74 acres · 1.4 mi of trail
Whitney Park20 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
Big Flats Wildlife Management Area127 acres · 0.3 mi of trail · New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
Tanglewood Nature Center24 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Harris Hill Park26 acres
Hillview Park2 acres
Fawn Acres1 acres
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Peaks in Big Flats
Steege Hill1,772 ft elevation · In Steege Hill Nature Preserve
Harris Hill1,752 ft elevation
Hawley Hill1,703 ft elevation
Leach Hill1,637 ft elevation
Trails
Named trails
Unpaved 9.6 mi
- Twain Trail2.1 mi
- Big Flats Trail1.7 mi
- Plymouth Woods Nature Preserve Trails1.6 mi
- Bluebird Trail1.3 mi
- Tanglefoot Trail0.8 mi
- Allyn Hoffman Tree Trail0.6 mi
- Whitetail Trail0.5 mi
- Presidents Trail0.4 mi
- Childrens Sensory Trail0.2 mi
Water
Lakes & rivers
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
2,276 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 172 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. Public access isn't recorded for 4 of 29 parcels. The places listed above are parks and preserves people visit.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes0.0 mi
- Off-road bike paths2.3 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.0 mi
Courts & fields
- Baseball13
- Soccer6
- Basketball3
- Volleyball2
- Tennis2
- Pickleball1
- Beach volleyball1
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Big Flats
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
Private Conservation 1,449 acLocal Park 824 acLocal Conservation Area 275 acConservation Easement 250 acState Resource Management Area 128 ac
Showing 1–10 of 15 places
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steege HillPrivate Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 802 | Closed |
| County Of Chemung LandLocal Park | County | 335 | Access unknown |
| Town Of Big Flats LandLocal Park | Town or city | 295 | Access unknown |
| Frenchmans BluffPrivate Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 277 | Open |
| Frenchmans Bluff PreservePrivate Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 276 | Open |
| Open SpaceLocal Conservation Area | Land trusts & nonprofits | 275 | Open |
| Harris Hill ParkLocal Park | County | 146 | Open |
| Big Flats WmaState Resource Management Area | State conservation | 128 | Open |
| Plymouth WoodsPrivate Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 94 | Closed |
| Elmira Water Board LandLocal Other or Unknown | Regional Water Districts | 58 | Access unknown |
History
Historic places to visit
Showing 1–10 of 15 places
Douglas B-26B InvaderAircraft
Grumman F-14A TomcatAircraft
Grumman OV-1C MohawkAircraft
Herring-Arnot GliderAircraft
Hughes OH-6A CayuseAircraft
LTV A-7D Corsair IIAircraft
Martin RB-57A CanberraAircraft
McDonnell Douglas F-15A EagleAircraft
Preemption LineMonument
Soaring Capital of AmericaMonument
Nearby
Big Flats and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big Flats | 7.9% | 24.0 mi | 11 |
| Southport | 0.3% | 1.3 mi | 5 |
| Corning | 1.4% | 5.2 mi | 3 |
| Horseheads | 3.2% | 13.0 mi | 11 |
| Catlin | 2.5% | 0.5 mi | 3 |
| Elmira | 6.2% | 5.3 mi | 3 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Big Flats's trails yet. Muddy, icy, a bridge out, where to park: a quick post helps the next person.
Sources: trails, parks, preserves, courts and bike lanes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), map data as of 2026-09-28. Conserved land: USGS Gap Analysis Project, Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US). Measured against the Census town boundary.
How we measure
"Trails" are OpenStreetMap paths, bridleways, public tracks and unpaved footways, plus footways inside a park or preserve or on a named trail route. Sidewalks are left out. Areas are counted on a 21.9-meter grid, so overlapping parcels count once. "Conserved" includes conservation easements, which protect land from development but are usually private property. Trailheads are the nearest marked trailhead, public parking lot or information board within about 150 meters of a preserve. Dog rules come from OpenStreetMap when someone has tagged them; otherwise we show what's typical for the land manager, or say the rules aren't recorded.