Cedar Lake Marsh Fish and Wildlife Area
Nature preserve
163 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
C−Outdoors
Outdoors in Hanover Township
Few parks or trails are on the map in Hanover Township
0.6 miles of mapped trail cross Hanover Township. 54 acres are parks and preserves, 2.7 per 1,000 residents. 49% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 16% of U.S. towns · #454 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
166 acres · of 28.7 sq mi of land
Trails
0.6 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
54 ac
2.7 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
49%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.9 mi
3.9 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
4
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Hanover Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Hanover Township is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns, #454 of 593 in Indiana. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park comes closest.
C−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Hanover 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 (1 mi) · IN 0.1 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land2.7 acres of park per 1,000 residents (54 acres) · IN 10 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home49% 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 16%
LessMore
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 23%
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Hanover Township’s 1% is ahead of 40% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 22% of them.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Hanover 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 D 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.
Biesecker Prairie Nature Preserve
Nature preserve
34 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
E. Hanover Park
Managed by Cedar Lake Parks & Rec Department
16 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 9 parks & preserves
Patnoe Park4 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · Town of Saint John
Cedar Lake Marsh Fish and Wildlife Area163 acres
Biesecker Prairie Nature Preserve34 acres
E. Hanover Park16 acres · Cedar Lake Parks & Rec Department
Centennial Playground11 acres
DirectionsHomestead Acres Park Number 24 acres · Town of Saint John
Potawatomi Park2 acres
German Methodist Cemetery Prairie Preserve1 acres
Silverleaf Park1 acres · Town of Saint John
DirectionsWho protects it
166 conserved acres
1% of Hanover Township’s land. Who manages Hanover Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Private owners123 ac
State natural resources34 ac
Town or city8 ac
Private Park · 123 acState Conservation Area · 34 acLocal Park · 8 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monastery Cedar Lake Golf Club Private Park | Private owners | 123 | Open |
| Biesecker Prairie Nature Preserve State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 34 | Restricted |
| Havenwood Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Silverleaf Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| German Methodist Cemetery Nature Preserve State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 1 | Restricted |
| Potawatomi Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Hanover Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Hanover Township
4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
4 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
3.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
3.9 mi
off-road bike paths
0.1 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
18Tennis
14Baseball
4Basketball
3Soccer
1Tracks
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Hanover 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 | 60 | 71 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 64 | 49 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.3 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 2.8 | 2.2 |
February is the driest month (2.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.6 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Hanover Township →
Next door
Hanover Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
St. John Township16 miCrete Township10 miCenter Township9.0 miWest Creek Township7.0 miHanover Township0.6 miSt. John0.6 miCedar Lake0.0 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hanover Township | 1% | under 0.1 | 3 | 49% | C− |
| St. John Township | 7% | 0.4 | 14 | 86% | B+ |
| West Creek Township | 2% | 0.1 | under 1 | 33% | C− |
| Center Township | 4% | 0.2 | 29 | 63% | B |
| St. John | 1% | under 0.1 | 4 | 65% | C− |
| Cedar Lake | 4% | under 0.1 | 5 | 66% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Hanover Township
How much of Hanover 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 Hanover Township’s trails?
Cedar Lake Marsh Fish and Wildlife Area and Biesecker Prairie Nature Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Hanover Township?
3.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.9 of off-road paths and 0.1 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Hanover Township?
7,293 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Hanover Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 54 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Hanover Township have?
Ahead of 16% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #454 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 Hanover 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 →