Owen-Putnam State Forest
Nature preserve
627 acres1.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Jackson Township
Jackson Township has 232 acres of parks, 132 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Owen-Putnam State Forest (1.5 mi). 18% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 2.0 miles of mapped trail cross Jackson Township, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 47% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
670 acres · of 22.0 sq mi of land
Trails
2.0 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
232 ac
132 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
18%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
2
4 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 47% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Jackson Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical IN town 2% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · IN 0.1 · U.S. 0.4CPark land132 acres of park per 1,000 residents (232 acres) · IN 10 · U.S. 13AParks close to home18% 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 47%
LessMore
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Jackson Township’s 5% is ahead of 79% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 41% of them.
Water is 6% of Jackson Township’s area (1 of 23 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 4%.
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 Owen-Putnam State Forest, with 1.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Richard Lieber State Recreation Area
Park
232 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
670 conserved acres
5% of Jackson Township’s land. Water is left out: Jackson Township has 22.0 square miles of land and 1.3 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Jackson Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources670 ac
State Resource Management Area · 641 acState Conservation Area · 28 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owen-Putnam State Forest State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 641 | Open |
| Jordan Seeps Nature Preserve State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 28 | Restricted |
Things to do
6 places to go in Jackson Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Jackson Township
4 boat launches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Picnic areas in Jackson Township
1 picnic area without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Campgrounds in Jackson Township
Wasatch Lake
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 1.5 miHorses · 1.5 mi
Doe Run0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
When to get out
August is the best month for walking in Jackson 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) | 9.7 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 36 | 41 | 52 | 64 | 74 | 82 | 85 | 84 | 78 | 66 | 52 | 41 |
| Rain (in) | 3.2 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 5.3 | 4.7 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 3.1 |
February is the driest month (2.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 5.3 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Jackson Township →
Next door
Jackson Township and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson Township | 5% | 0.1 | 132 | 18% | B− |
| Morgan Township | 17% | 0.3 | under 1 | under 1% | C |
| Jennings Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Washington Township | under 1% | 0.2 | 100 | 10% | 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: Owen-Putnam State Forest, 1.5 miles; Richard Lieber State Recreation Area, 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?
5% 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?
Owen-Putnam State Forest and Richard Lieber State Recreation Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Jackson Township?
9,305 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Jackson Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 876 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Jackson Township have?
Ahead of 47% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 →