Limberlost Swamp Wetlands Preserve
Managed by Indiana Department of Natural Resources
240 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Nyttend · Public domainDOutdoors
Outdoors in Bearcreek Township
Few parks or trails are on the map in Bearcreek Township
0.4 miles of mapped trail cross Bearcreek Township. 17% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 7 acres are parks and preserves, 4.2 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 11% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
183 acres · of 36.2 sq mi of land
Trails
0.4 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
7 ac
4.2 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
17%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Bearcreek Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Bearcreek Township is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; park acres per resident come closest.
D
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Bearcreek Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical IN town 2% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · IN 0.1 · U.S. 0.4DPark land4.2 acres of park per 1,000 residents (7 acres) · IN 10 · U.S. 13CParks close to home17% of residents within a half mile of a park · IN 51% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 11%
LessMore
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Bearcreek Township’s 1% is ahead of 36% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 16% of them.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Bearcreek Township. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would still be D. 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Limberlost Bird Sanctuary
Managed by Indiana Department of Natural Resources
13 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
183 conserved acres
1% of Bearcreek Township’s land. Who manages Bearcreek Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
USDA easements (NRCS)169 ac
State natural resources12 ac
State fish & wildlife1 ac
Conservation Easement · 169 acState Conservation Area · 13 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 169 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Limberlost Nature Preserve State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 12 | Restricted |
| Limberlost Wildlife Habitat Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 1 | Restricted |
Things to do
3 places to go in Bearcreek Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Bearcreek Township
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
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
3Basketball
3Soccer
2Beach volleyball
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The walking year in Bearcreek Township
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) | 9.6 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.4 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.9 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 34 | 38 | 49 | 62 | 73 | 81 | 84 | 83 | 77 | 65 | 50 | 38 |
| Rain (in) | 2.7 | 2.2 | 3.0 | 3.9 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.1 | 3.7 | 3.1 | 2.9 | 3.1 | 2.6 |
February is the driest month (2.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.5 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Bearcreek Township →
Next door
Bearcreek Township 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bearcreek Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 4 | 17% | D |
| Wabash Township | 7% | 0.2 | 22 | 57% | B |
| Jackson Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Wayne Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 12 | 66% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Bearcreek Township
How much of Bearcreek Township is conserved land?
1% of its land, against a typical 2% for an Indiana town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Bearcreek Township’s trails?
Limberlost Swamp Wetlands Preserve and Limberlost Bird Sanctuary don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Bearcreek Township?
508 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Bearcreek Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 7 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Bearcreek Township have?
Ahead of 11% 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 Bearcreek Township 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 →