Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge
Nature preserve
4,249 acres5.1 mi of trail
Turkey TrailBird TrailEast County Road 500 NorthSandhill Ponds Trail+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Nyttend · Public domainB−Outdoors
Outdoors in Jackson Township
20% of Jackson Township’s land is conserved: 4,486 acres
The biggest trail networks: Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge (5.1 mi). 109 acres are parks and preserves, 4.7 per 1,000 residents. 7.9 miles of mapped trail cross Jackson Township, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 55% of U.S. towns · #163 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Conserved land
20%
4,486 acres · of 34.4 sq mi of land
Trails
7.9 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
109 ac
4.7 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
64%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
9.0 mi
1.7 mi lanes · 7.3 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
2 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Jackson Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Jackson Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Jackson Township is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns, #163 of 593 in Indiana. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Jackson Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land20% of the land · typical IN town 2% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (8 mi) · IN 0.1 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land4.7 acres of park per 1,000 residents (109 acres) · IN 10 · U.S. 13CParks close to home64% of residents within a half mile of a park · IN 51% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 55%
LessMore
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 73%
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Jackson Township’s 20% is ahead of 98% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 63% 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 Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge, with 5.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Shields Park
Park
13 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 8 parks & preserves
Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge4,249 acres · 5.1 mi of trail
DirectionsShields Park13 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Gaiser Park11 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
DirectionsFreeman Field42 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsKasting Park17 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsCrossroads Community Park4 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsKessler Park3 acres
DirectionsWestside Park2 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
4,486 conserved acres
20% of Jackson Township’s land. Who manages Jackson Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service8,505 ac
State fish & wildlife147 ac
Town or city43 ac
Private owners42 ac
National Wildlife Refuge · 8,505 acConservation Easement · 147 acLocal Park · 43 acLocal Recreation Area · 42 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 147 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 8 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 8,505 | Restricted |
| Cb Hess Memorial Soccer Field Local Recreation Area | Private owners | 42 | Open |
| Kasting Park Local Park | Town or city | 17 | Open |
| Shields Park Local Park | Town or city | 13 | Open |
| Gaiser Park Local Park | Town or city | 10 | Open |
| Boys And Girls Club Of Seymour Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
Things to do
23 places to go in Jackson Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Jackson Township
19 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Jackson Township
Canine Crossroads Dog Park
DirectionsBoat launches in Jackson Township
2 boat launches without a name on the map.
Scenic views in Jackson Township
Endicott Observation DeckIn Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge
DirectionsTrails & water
12 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Turkey Trail0.9 mi
Bird Trail0.6 mi
East County Road 500 North0.5 mi
Sandhill Ponds Trail0.4 mi
Persimmon Ponds Trail0.3 mi
North County Road 1300 East0.2 mi
East County Road 200 North0.2 mi
Myers Cabin Trail0.2 mi
Turkey/Bird Trail0.1 mi
Chestnut Ridge Trail0.1 mi
2 more trails
G Avenue West
0.1 miWood Duck Trail
0.1 miLakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
9.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.7 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
7.3 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
16Baseball
16Soccer
10Tennis
5Basketball
2Volleyball
2Pickleball
2Football
1Softball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Jackson Township: July and August
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) | 9.7 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 14.6 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 39 | 44 | 54 | 66 | 75 | 83 | 86 | 85 | 80 | 68 | 55 | 43 |
| Rain (in) | 3.5 | 2.9 | 4.1 | 5.0 | 5.3 | 4.9 | 4.3 | 3.8 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
February is the driest month (2.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 5.3 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Jackson Township →
Next door
Jackson Township and its neighbors
Jackson Township has the second most mapped trails of the 7 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Brownstown Township29 miJackson Township7.9 miRedding Township6.2 miHamilton Township4.4 miSpencer Township2.7 miSeymour2.1 miWashington Township0.9 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson Township | 20% | 0.2 | 5 | 64% | B− |
| Hamilton Township | under 1% | 0.1 | 6 | 5% | D |
| Redding Township | 1% | 0.2 | 19 | 16% | C |
| Spencer Township | 10% | 0.1 | under 1 | 2% | C− |
| Washington Township | 2% | under 0.1 | under 1 | under 1% | D |
| Brownstown Township | 11% | 0.5 | 731 | 65% | A− |
| Seymour | 1% | 0.2 | 5 | 72% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Jackson Township
Where can I hike in Jackson Township?
The longest trail networks: Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge, 5.1 miles; Shields Park, 0.3 miles; Gaiser Park, 0.3 miles; Freeman Field, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Jackson Township is conserved land?
20% 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 Jackson Township’s trails?
Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge and Shields Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Jackson Township?
9.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.7 of painted or protected lanes and 7.3 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Jackson Township?
8,939 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Jackson Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 109 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Jackson Township have?
Ahead of 55% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #163 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 Jackson 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 →