Oak Ridge Prairie County Park
Park
429 acres2.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: JoeyBLS · Public domainAOutdoors
Outdoors in Griffith
15% of Griffith’s land is conserved: 746 acres
95% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 606 acres are parks and preserves, 37 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Oak Ridge Prairie County Park (2.6 mi), Central Park (0.6 mi).
Ahead of 90% of U.S. towns · #11 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Conserved land
15%
746 acres · of 7.8 sq mi of land
Trails
4.6 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
606 ac
37 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
95%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
7.0 mi
0.1 mi lanes · 6.9 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Griffith?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Griffith have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Griffith is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns, #11 of 593 in Indiana. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, trail miles lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Griffith’s overall grade.
Conserved land15% of the land · typical IN town 2% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (5 mi) · IN 0.1 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land37 acres of park per 1,000 residents (606 acres) · IN 10 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home95% of residents within a half mile of a park · IN 51% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 90%
LessMore
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 98%
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Griffith’s 15% is ahead of 96% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 85% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− 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 Oak Ridge Prairie County Park, with 2.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Central Park
Park
12 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Hoosier Prairie State Nature Preserve
Managed by Indiana Department of Natural Resources
247 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Gaylord Butterfly Preserve
Nature preserve
118 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 10 parks & preserves
Oak Ridge Prairie County Park429 acres · 2.6 mi of trail
DirectionsCentral Park12 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
Cheever Park11 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Hoosier Prairie State Nature Preserve247 acres · Indiana Department of Natural Resources
Gaylord Butterfly Preserve118 acres
South Park19 acres
Woodland Park5 acres
Franklin Field3 acres
Tot Park2 acres
DirectionsIvan Gatlin Nature Preserve1 acres
Who protects it
746 conserved acres
15% of Griffith’s land. Who manages Griffith’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County348 ac
State natural resources240 ac
National Park Service110 ac
Town or city50 ac
Local Park · 398 acState Conservation Area · 240 acNational Park · 110 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Ridge Prairie Co. Park Local Park | County | 348 | Open |
| Hoosier Prairie - Gaylord North State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 128 | Restricted |
| Hoosier Prairie Nature Preserve State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 112 | Restricted |
| Indiana Dunes National Park National Park | National Park Service | 110 | Open |
| South Park Local Park | Town or city | 17 | Open |
| Central Park Local Park | Town or city | 12 | Open |
| Cheever Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Woodland Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Wadsworth Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Tot Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
Things to do
14 places to go in Griffith
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Griffith
11 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Peaks in Griffith
Sled HillIn Oak Ridge Prairie County Park
DirectionsPicnic areas in Griffith
2 picnic areas without a name on the map.
Biking & sports
7.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.1 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
6.9 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
11Tennis
9Baseball
6Pickleball
5Soccer
2Softball
1Football
1Volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Griffith: April, August 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 | 36 | 48 | 60 | 71 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 64 | 49 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.2 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 2.8 | 2.2 |
February is the driest month (2.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Griffith →
Next door
Griffith and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Calumet Township51 miGary49 miNorth Township42 miSt. John Township16 miHighland8.2 miMerrillville6.0 miGriffith4.6 miSchererville2.7 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Griffith | 15% | 0.6 | 37 | 95% | A |
| Calumet Township | 9% | 0.8 | 34 | 91% | A |
| Schererville | 10% | 0.2 | 11 | 95% | B+ |
| Highland | 12% | 1.2 | 21 | 99%+ | A |
| North Township | 6% | 0.8 | 14 | 98% | A− |
| St. John Township | 7% | 0.4 | 14 | 86% | B+ |
| Gary | 9% | 1.0 | 41 | 95% | A |
| Merrillville | 8% | 0.2 | 40 | 73% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Griffith
Where can I hike in Griffith?
The longest trail networks: Oak Ridge Prairie County Park, 2.6 miles; Central Park, 0.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Griffith is conserved land?
15% 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 Griffith’s trails?
Oak Ridge Prairie County Park and Central Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Griffith?
7.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.1 of painted or protected lanes and 6.9 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Griffith?
12,377 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Griffith or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 606 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Griffith have?
Ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #11 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 Griffith 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 →