Photo: Chris Flook · CC BY-SA 4.0Few parks or trails are on the map in Laurel Township
57 acres are parks and preserves, 44 per 1,000 residents. 6% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 18% of U.S. towns. What drives it
How much outdoors does Laurel Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Laurel Township is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Laurel Township’s under 1% is ahead of 25% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 6% of them.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
55 conserved acres
under 1% of Laurel Township’s land. Who manages Laurel Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whitewater Canal State Historic Site State Historic or Cultural Area | Other state land | 55 | Open |
4 places to go in Laurel Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
2 lakes & rivers
1.5 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
August is the best month for walking in Laurel 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) | 37 | 41 | 52 | 65 | 74 | 82 | 85 | 84 | 78 | 66 | 53 | 41 |
| Rain (in) | 3.2 | 2.5 | 3.6 | 4.5 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.2 | 3.3 | 3.0 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.2 |
February is the driest month (2.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 4.9 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Laurel Township →
Laurel Township and its neighbors
Laurel Township has the second most mapped trails of the 4 towns around it. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laurel Township | under 1% | under 0.1 | 44 | 6% | C− |
| Metamora Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Blooming Grove Township | under 1% | under 0.1 | under 1 | under 1% | D− |
| Salt Creek Township | 1% | under 0.1 | under 1 | under 1% | D |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Laurel Township
How much of Laurel Township is conserved land?
under 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.
Where can I bike in Laurel Township?
1.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.5 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Laurel Township?
11,745 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Laurel Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 57 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Laurel Township have?
Ahead of 18% 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 Laurel Township neighbors.
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 →