Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Evking22 · CC BY-SA 4.0The biggest trail networks: Spring Mill State Park (10.6 mi). 44% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 15 miles of mapped trail cross Marion Township, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 58% of U.S. towns · #137 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Marion Township is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns, #137 of 593 in Indiana. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Marion Township’s 3% is ahead of 70% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 63% of them.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
The longest trail network is Spring Mill State Park, with 10.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
3% of Marion Township’s land. Who manages Marion Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Mill State Park State Park | State parks | 672 | Open |
| Mitchell Sinkhole Plain Nature Preserve State Park | State parks | 459 | Open |
| Donaldson Woods Addition Nature Preserve State Conservation Area | State parks | 77 | Open |
| Donaldson Woods Nature Preserve State Conservation Area | State parks | 68 | Open |
| Hoosier National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 46 | Open |
| Donaldson Cave Addition Nature Preserve State Conservation Area | State parks | 34 | Open |
| Mitchell Community Park Local Park | Town or city | 10 | Open |
| Mitchell Peewee League And Babe Ruth League Ballpark Local Park | Town or city | 10 | Open |
| Donaldson Cave Nature Preserve State Conservation Area | State parks | 6 | Open |
| Bedford (White R. E. Fork) Sr 37 Public Access Site State Recreation Area | State fish & wildlife | 3 | Open |
2 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
1 public pool without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Plus 10 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
2 boat launches without a name on the map.
3 waterfalls without a name on the map.
4 picnic areas without a name on the map.
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.
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 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 39 | 44 | 54 | 66 | 75 | 83 | 86 | 85 | 79 | 68 | 54 | 43 |
| Rain (in) | 3.6 | 3.1 | 4.3 | 5.3 | 5.6 | 5.1 | 4.3 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.9 | 3.7 |
February is the driest month (3.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 5.6 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Marion Township →
Marion Township has the most mapped trails of the 7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marion Township | 3% | 0.2 | 158 | 44% | B |
| Shawswick Township | 1% | 0.1 | 13 | 49% | C |
| Guthrie Township | 1% | 0.2 | under 1 | under 1% | D |
| Bono Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Spice Valley Township | 19% | 0.1 | 71 | 9% | B |
| Indian Creek Township | 1% | 0.1 | 44 | 11% | C |
| Orleans Township | under 1% | under 0.1 | 1 | 47% | D |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
The longest trail networks: Spring Mill State Park, 10.6 miles; 4H Fairgrounds, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
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.
Spring Mill State Park and 4H Fairgrounds don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
0.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.6 of off-road paths.
32,443 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Marion Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,449 of them inside the town line.
Ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #137 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.
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Marion Township neighbors.
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 →