Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge and Management Area
Managed by United States Fish and Wildlife Service
769 acres0.6 mi of trail
Buck's Boarwalk Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Columbia Township
14% of Columbia Township’s land is conserved: 2,690 acres
163 acres are parks and preserves, 46 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge and Management Area (0.6 mi). 16% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 50% of U.S. towns · #191 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Conserved land
14%
2,690 acres · of 30.5 sq mi of land
Trails
1.8 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
163 ac
46 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
16%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
620 ft
Kennedy Hill
Lakes & rivers
8
What kind of outdoors town is Columbia Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Columbia Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Columbia Township is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns, #191 of 593 in Indiana. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Columbia Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land14% of the land · typical IN town 2% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · IN 0.1 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land46 acres of park per 1,000 residents (163 acres) · IN 10 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home16% 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 50%
LessMore
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 68%
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Columbia Township’s 14% is ahead of 96% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 34% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. 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 Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge and Management Area, with 0.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Columbia Mine Preserve
Managed by Sycamore Land Trust
513 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Pike State Forest
Managed by Indiana Department of Natural Resources
90 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
2,690 conserved acres
14% of Columbia Township’s land. Who manages Columbia Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service4,284 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)142 ac
State natural resources88 ac
Town or city74 ac
National Wildlife Refuge · 3,768 acConservation Easement · 657 acState Conservation Area · 88 acLocal Recreation Area · 65 acLocal Park · 9 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 616 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 3,768 | Restricted |
| Pike State Forest State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 88 | Open |
| Oakland City Golf Club Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 65 | Open |
| Town Of Oakland City Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Columbia Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Columbia Township
Kennedy Hill620 ft elevation
DirectionsCampgrounds in Columbia Township
New Lake Campground
DirectionsTrails & water
2 named trails and 8 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 0.7 mi
Buck's Boarwalk Trail0.6 mi
County Road 150 North0.1 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
11Tennis
5Baseball
2Basketball
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The walking year in Columbia 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) | 9.8 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.1 | 14.2 | 14.8 | 14.6 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 40 | 45 | 56 | 68 | 77 | 85 | 88 | 87 | 81 | 69 | 55 | 44 |
| Rain (in) | 3.5 | 3.0 | 4.2 | 5.1 | 5.3 | 4.8 | 4.3 | 3.1 | 3.8 | 3.4 | 4.0 | 3.8 |
February is the driest month (3.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 5.3 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Columbia Township →
Next door
Columbia Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Monroe Township31 miPatoka Township2.9 miBarton Township2.9 miLogan Township2.1 miColumbia Township1.8 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia Township | 14% | 0.1 | 46 | 16% | B− |
| Logan Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Patoka Township | 30% | 0.1 | 86 | 4% | B− |
| Monroe Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Barton Township | under 1% | 0.1 | 2 | 2% | D |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Columbia Township
Where can I hike in Columbia Township?
The longest trail networks: Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge and Management Area, 0.6 miles; Columbia Mine Preserve, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Columbia Township is conserved land?
14% 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 Columbia Township’s trails?
Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge and Management Area and Columbia Mine Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Columbia Township?
4,945 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Columbia Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 163 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Columbia Township have?
Ahead of 50% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #191 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 Columbia 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 →