Wythougan Park
Park
51 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
C−Outdoors
Outdoors in Center Township
Center Township has 75 acres of parks, 12 for every 1,000 residents
0.4 miles of mapped trail cross Center Township. 47% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 23% of U.S. towns · #385 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
216 acres · of 36.3 sq mi of land
Trails
0.4 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
75 ac
12 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
47%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.8 mi
0.8 mi paths
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Center Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Center Township is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns, #385 of 593 in Indiana. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
C−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Center 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 land12 acres of park per 1,000 residents (75 acres) · IN 10 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home47% 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 23%
LessMore
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 35%
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Center Township’s 1% is ahead of 38% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 16% of them.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Center 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 range from C− to C. 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.
Knox Community High School Nature Center
Nature preserve
17 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Knox Community High School Woods
Nature preserve
10 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 5 parks & preserves
Wythougan Park51 acres
Knox Community High School Nature Center17 acres
DirectionsKnox Community High School Woods10 acres
DirectionsSandy Acres Park3 acres
DirectionsHeritage Park1 acres
Who protects it
216 conserved acres
1% of Center Township’s land. Who manages Center Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
USDA easements (NRCS)153 ac
Town or city45 ac
County18 ac
Conservation Easement · 153 acLocal Park · 45 acLocal Recreation Area · 18 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 153 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wythougan Park Local Park | Town or city | 42 | Open |
| Starke County Soccer Field Local Recreation Area | County | 18 | Open |
| Sandy Acres Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
Things to do
5 places to go in Center Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Center Township
5 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Biking & sports
0.8 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.8 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
12Tennis
6Tracks
4Baseball
3Football
2Basketball
2Softball
2Skate park
1Volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Center Township: April 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) | 9.5 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.1 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 32 | 36 | 48 | 61 | 72 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 64 | 49 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.5 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 4.6 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 2.9 | 2.4 |
February is the driest month (2.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.6 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Center Township →
Next door
Center Township and its neighbors
Center Township has the second most mapped trails of the 3 towns around it. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Center Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 12 | 47% | C− |
| Jackson Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Davis Township | — 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 Center Township
How much of Center 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 Center Township’s trails?
Wythougan Park and Knox Community High School Nature Center don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Center Township?
0.8 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.8 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Center Township?
2,879 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Center Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 75 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Center Township have?
Ahead of 23% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #385 of 593 in Indiana. 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 Center 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 →