Derksen Farm & Wetlands
Nature preserve
29 acres1.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Derek Jensen (Tysto) · CC BY 2.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Nappanee
Nappanee has 9.5 miles of mapped trails, 1.9 for every square mile of land
94% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 245 acres are parks and preserves, 36 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Derksen Farm & Wetlands (1.5 mi).
Ahead of 93% of U.S. towns · #5 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Conserved land
8%
255 acres · of 4.9 sq mi of land
Trails
9.5 mi
1.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
245 ac
36 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
94%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
7.2 mi
6.6 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Nappanee?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Nappanee have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Nappanee is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns, #5 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 Nappanee’s overall grade.
Conserved land8% of the land · typical IN town 2% · U.S. 4%B+Trails1.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (10 mi) · IN 0.1 · U.S. 0.4APark land36 acres of park per 1,000 residents (245 acres) · IN 10 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home94% 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 93%
LessMore
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)#5 of 593
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Nappanee’s 8% is ahead of 90% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 99% of them.
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 Derksen Farm & Wetlands, with 1.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
South Park
Managed by City of Nappanee
3 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 5 parks & preserves
Derksen Farm & Wetlands29 acres · 1.5 mi of trail
DirectionsSouth Park3 acres · 0.2 mi of trail · City of Nappanee
DirectionsStauffer Park18 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsWest Side Park5 acres
DirectionsRecovery Park2 acres
Who protects it
255 conserved acres
8% of Nappanee’s land. Who manages Nappanee’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city239 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)17 ac
Local Park · 183 acState Recreation Area · 55 acConservation Easement · 17 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nappanee Golf Course and Park Local Park | Town or city | 157 | Open |
| Robert W. Callander Sportsplex State Recreation Area | Town or city | 55 | Open |
| John Derksen (Stauffer) Park Local Park | Town or city | 16 | Open |
| West Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| South Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Recovery Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
Things to do
12 places to go in Nappanee
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Nappanee
Nappanee Community PoolIn Stauffer Park
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Nappanee
Church Playground
DirectionsLittle PawsIn Stauffer Park
DirectionsWest Side Park PlaygroundIn West Side Park
DirectionsPlus 7 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Nappanee
Nappanee Dog Park
DirectionsBiking & sports
7.2 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
6.6 mi
off-road bike paths
0.7 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
15Tennis
11Soccer
9Basketball
9Baseball
3Pickleball
3Tracks
1Beach volleyball
1Football
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 2 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Downtown Nappanee Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1990
About itFrank and Katharine Coppes HouseBuilding · listed 1990
About itStahly-Nissley-Kuhns FarmDistrict · listed 1990
About itArthur Miller HouseBuilding · listed 1992
About itNappanee West Park and PavilionBuilding · listed 1994
About itNappaness Eastside Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2003
About itRichard and Susan Pletcher HouseBuilding · listed 2020
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Nappanee: 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 | 10.6 | 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 | 60 | 71 | 80 | 83 | 81 | 75 | 63 | 48 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.5 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 3.9 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 2.9 | 2.5 |
February is the driest month (2.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.3 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Nappanee →
Next door
Nappanee and its neighbors
Nappanee has the most mapped trails of the 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nappanee | 8% | 1.9 | 36 | 94% | A |
| Locke Township | under 1% | 0.1 | 6 | 70% | C− |
| Union Township | 1% | 0.2 | 37 | 54% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Nappanee
Where can I hike in Nappanee?
The longest trail networks: Derksen Farm & Wetlands, 1.5 miles; Stauffer Park, 0.1 miles; South Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Nappanee is conserved land?
8% 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 Nappanee’s trails?
Derksen Farm & Wetlands and Stauffer Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Nappanee?
7.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 6.6 of off-road paths and 0.7 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Nappanee?
525 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Nappanee or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 245 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Nappanee have?
Ahead of 93% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #5 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 Nappanee 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 →