Ox Bow County Park
Managed by Elkhart County Parks
257 acres6.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Dunlap
Dunlap has 6.6 miles of mapped trails, 1.3 for every square mile of land
276 acres are parks and preserves, 45 per 1,000 residents. 7% of Dunlap’s land is conserved, about 212 acres. 52% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 80% of U.S. towns · #41 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Conserved land
7%
212 acres · of 4.9 sq mi of land
Trails
6.6 mi
1.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
276 ac
45 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
52%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.5 mi
3.5 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Dunlap?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Dunlap have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Dunlap is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns, #41 of 593 in Indiana. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Dunlap’s overall grade.
Conserved land7% of the land · typical IN town 2% · U.S. 4%B+Trails1.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (7 mi) · IN 0.1 · U.S. 0.4APark land45 acres of park per 1,000 residents (276 acres) · IN 10 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home52% 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 80%
LessMore
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 93%
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Dunlap’s 7% is ahead of 86% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 97% of them.
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 Ox Bow County Park, with 6.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
212 conserved acres
7% of Dunlap’s land. Who manages Dunlap’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County196 ac
Town or city16 ac
Local Park · 212 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elkart County (Oxbow) Park Local Park | County | 196 | Open |
| Robert L Nelson Dog Park Local Park | Town or city | 16 | Open |
Things to do
11 places to go in Dunlap
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Dunlap
7 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Scenic views in Dunlap
4 scenic views without a name on the map.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
3.5 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
3.5 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
10Tennis
4Baseball
2Football
2Beach volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Dunlap: 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 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 32 | 35 | 47 | 60 | 71 | 80 | 84 | 81 | 75 | 63 | 48 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.5 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 2.9 | 2.5 |
February is the driest month (2.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.2 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Dunlap →
Next door
Dunlap and its neighbors
Dunlap has the second most mapped trails of the 3 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Dunlap
Where can I hike in Dunlap?
The longest trail networks: Ox Bow County Park, 6.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Dunlap is conserved land?
7% 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 Dunlap’s trails?
Ox Bow County Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Dunlap?
3.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.5 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Dunlap?
2,791 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Dunlap or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 276 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Dunlap have?
Ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #41 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 Dunlap 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 →