Soldiers Memorial Park
Park
187 acres12.6 mi of trail
LP - The NoodleWoodland Trail MTB Orange LoopWoodland Trail MTB Inner Orange LoopWoodland Trail Loop #1+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: MrHarman · CC BY 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in La Porte
La Porte has 21 miles of mapped trails, 1.4 for every square mile of land
92% of residents live within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Soldiers Memorial Park (12.6 mi), Kesling Park (1.2 mi). 589 acres are parks and preserves, 26 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 87% of U.S. towns · #22 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
488 acres · of 14.6 sq mi of land
Trails
21 mi
1.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
589 ac
26 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
92%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
9.6 mi
0.2 mi lanes · 7.8 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
9
6 beaches · 11 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is La Porte?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does La Porte have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, La Porte is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns, #22 of 593 in Indiana. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; trail miles rank highest, conserved land lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of La Porte’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical IN town 2% · U.S. 4%BTrails1.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (21 mi) · IN 0.1 · U.S. 0.4APark land26 acres of park per 1,000 residents (589 acres) · IN 10 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home92% 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 87%
LessMore
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 96%
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so La Porte’s 5% is ahead of 81% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 98% of them.
Water is 5% of La Porte’s area (1 of 15 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 5%.
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 Soldiers Memorial Park, with 12.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Kesling Park
Park
93 acres1.2 mi of trail
Kesling Park Nature Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 17 parks & preserves
Soldiers Memorial Park187 acres · 12.6 mi of trail
DirectionsKesling Park93 acres · 1.2 mi of trail
DirectionsFox Memorial Park59 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
DirectionsAllesee Park5 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsUnity Park2 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsKoomler Park4 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsRumely Park3 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsBrighton Street Green Space1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsBen Rees Park1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsCharles W. Lindewald Park10 acres
DirectionsClarke Park6 acres
Luhr County Park4 acres
Kiwanis-Teledyne Park4 acres
DirectionsScott Field3 acres
DirectionsLarson Danielson Field2 acres
DirectionsHastings park1 acres
DirectionsWarsaw Park1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
488 conserved acres
5% of La Porte’s land. Water is left out: La Porte has 14.6 square miles of land and 0.8 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages La Porte’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city253 ac
County235 ac
Local Park · 413 acState Recreation Area · 75 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soliders Memorial Park Local Park | Town or city | 220 | Open |
| Fox Memorial Park Local Park | County | 155 | Open |
| Kesling Outdoor Recreation Center State Recreation Area | County | 75 | Open |
| City Park Local Park | Town or city | 11 | Open |
| Rumely Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Clarke Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Allessee Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Kiwanis-Teledyne Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Unity Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
Things to do
61 places to go in La Porte
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in La Porte
Stone Lake BeachIn Soldiers Memorial Park
DirectionsPlus 5 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Public pools in La Porte
1 public pool without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in La Porte
Fort LaPlayPorteIn Kesling Park
Directions40 playgrounds are on OpenStreetMap in all; the list shows named ones from the first 30.
Dog parks in La Porte
1 dog park without a name on the map.
Boat launches in La Porte
11 boat launches without a name on the map.
Community gardens in La Porte
Jackson Street Community Garden
DirectionsPlus 1 community garden without a name on the map.
Trails & water
18 named trails and 9 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 9.0 miUnpaved · 15.3 mi
LP - The Noodle4.5 mi
Woodland Trail MTB Orange Loop1.5 mi
Woodland Trail MTB Inner Orange Loop1.1 mi
Woodland Trail Loop #11.0 mi
Wild West0.9 mi
Kesling Park Nature Trail0.9 mi
LP Cambodia0.7 mi
Bluffside0.4 mi
Blessed Hell Ride0.3 mi
Woodland Trail Loop #20.3 mi
8 more trails
Icehouse
0.2 miRocky
0.1 miBilly Goat
0.1 miSophie's Revenge
0.1 miThe Link
0.1 miJump Line
0.1 miThe Ridge
0.1 miWild West Connector Trail
0.1 miBiking & sports
9.6 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.2 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
7.8 mi
off-road bike paths
1.6 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
23Tennis
19Baseball
16Basketball
8Soccer
6Tracks
4Beach volleyball
3Softball
2Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →7 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Downtown LaPorte Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1983
About itFrancis H. Morrison HouseBuilding · listed 1984
About itRidgeway, Marion, Polygonal BarnBuilding · listed 1993
About itIndiana and Michigan Avenues Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2014
About itScott-Rumley HouseBuilding · listed 2016
About itWynkoop-Taylor-Swanson-Sharp FarmsteadBuilding · listed 2017
About itCedar LodgeBuilding · listed 2025
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in La Porte: 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 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 32 | 35 | 47 | 59 | 70 | 80 | 83 | 81 | 75 | 62 | 48 | 36 |
| Rain (in) | 2.5 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 2.8 | 2.4 |
February is the driest month (2.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.3 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in La Porte →
Questions about parks and trails in La Porte
Where can I hike in La Porte?
The longest trail networks: Soldiers Memorial Park, 12.6 miles; Kesling Park, 1.2 miles; Fox Memorial Park, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of La Porte 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 La Porte’s trails?
Soldiers Memorial Park and Kesling Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in La Porte?
9.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.2 of painted or protected lanes, 7.8 of off-road paths and 1.6 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near La Porte?
4,139 acres of parks and open public land lie inside La Porte or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 589 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does La Porte have?
Ahead of 87% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #22 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 La Porte 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 →