Shakamak State Park
Managed by Indiana Department of Natural Resources
842 acres5.3 mi of trail
Trail 1Trail 5
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Jackson Township
Jackson Township has 859 acres of parks, 486 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Shakamak State Park (5.3 mi). 3% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 5.9 miles of mapped trail cross Jackson Township, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 45% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
870 acres · of 43.3 sq mi of land
Trails
5.9 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
859 ac
486 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
3%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
3
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 45% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Jackson Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical IN town 2% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (6 mi) · IN 0.1 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land486 acres of park per 1,000 residents (859 acres) · IN 10 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home3% of residents within a half mile of a park · IN 51% · U.S. 72%D
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 45%
LessMore
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Jackson Township’s 3% is ahead of 69% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 49% 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 Shakamak State Park, with 5.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
870 conserved acres
3% of Jackson Township’s land. Who manages Jackson Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State parks842 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)23 ac
State natural resources5 ac
State Park · 842 acConservation Easement · 23 acState Conservation Area · 5 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 23 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shakamak Prairie Nature Preserve State Park | State parks | 817 | Open |
| Shakamak State Park State Park | State parks | 26 | Open |
| Minnehana Fish and Wildlife Area State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 5 | Open |
Things to do
6 places to go in Jackson Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Jackson Township
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Jackson Township
2 boat launches without a name on the map.
Fishing spots in Jackson Township
1 fishing spot without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Picnic areas in Jackson Township
1 picnic area without a name on the map.
Trails & water
5 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 4.1 mi
Trail 12.7 mi
Trail 51.4 mi
North County Road 400 East0.4 mi
North County Road 600 East0.1 mi
East County Road 900 North0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
2Basketball
2Baseball
1Pickleball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
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 | 10.0 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 38 | 43 | 53 | 65 | 75 | 84 | 86 | 85 | 80 | 68 | 53 | 42 |
| Rain (in) | 3.1 | 2.5 | 3.6 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 5.2 | 4.4 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.1 |
February is the driest month (2.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 5.2 inches fall in June, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 86 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Jackson Township →
Next door
Jackson Township and its neighbors
Jackson Township has the most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Jackson Township5.9 miLewis Township5.7 miWright Township4.5 miCass Township0.6 miHamilton Township0.3 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson Township | 3% | 0.1 | 486 | 3% | C+ |
| Lewis Township | 1% | 0.1 | 366 | 17% | C+ |
| Hamilton Township | 18% | under 0.1 | 876 | 72% | B+ |
| Cass Township | 43% | under 0.1 | 4,238 | 44% | B+ |
| Wright Township | 2% | 0.1 | 158 | 37% | B− |
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: Shakamak State Park, 5.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Jackson Township is conserved land?
3% 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?
Shakamak State Park and Shakamak Nature Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Jackson Township?
22,606 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Jackson Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 859 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Jackson Township have?
Ahead of 45% 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 →