Bendix Woods County Park
Park
189 acres10.5 mi of trail
Bendix Woods NorthBendix Woods EastBendix Woods WestBendix Woods South+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Haven Hubbard Home · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainB−Outdoors
Outdoors in Olive Township
Olive Township has 518 acres of parks, 119 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Bendix Woods County Park (10.5 mi). 35% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 25 miles of mapped trail cross Olive Township, 0.4 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 51% of U.S. towns · #187 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
321 acres · of 57.4 sq mi of land
Trails
25 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
518 ac
119 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
35%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
17 mi
Highest peak
920 ft
Carlisle Hill
Lakes & rivers
3
What kind of outdoors town is Olive Township?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Olive Township have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Olive Township is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns, #187 of 593 in Indiana. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Olive Township’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical IN town 2% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (25 mi) · IN 0.1 · U.S. 0.4BPark land119 acres of park per 1,000 residents (518 acres) · IN 10 · U.S. 13AParks close to home35% of residents within a half mile of a park · IN 51% · U.S. 72%C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 51%
LessMore
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 69%
Few Indiana towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Olive Township’s 1% is ahead of 39% of Indiana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 78% 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 Bendix Woods County Park, with 10.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
New Carlisle Memorial Park
Park
3 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Spicer Lake Nature Preserve
Nature preserve
319 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Who protects it
321 conserved acres
1% of Olive Township’s land. Who manages Olive Township’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County272 ac
Private owners34 ac
Town or city10 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)4 ac
State Conservation Area · 253 acPrivate Park · 34 acLocal Park · 29 acConservation Easement · 4 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spicer Lake Nature Preserve State Conservation Area | County | 223 | Restricted |
| Birch Tree Golf Course Private Park | Private owners | 34 | Open |
| Bendix Woods Nature Preserve State Conservation Area | County | 30 | Restricted |
| Spicer Lake County Park Local Park | County | 19 | Open |
| Ball Park Local Park | Town or city | 7 | Open |
| Memorial Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
Things to do
13 places to go in Olive Township
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Olive Township
7 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Peaks in Olive Township
Carlisle Hill920 ft elevation · In Bendix Woods County Park
DirectionsPicnic areas in Olive Township
HardwoodsIn Bendix Woods County Park
DirectionsOtahnagon Picnic AreaIn Bendix Woods County Park
DirectionsPlus 3 picnic areas without a name on the map.
Trails & water
14 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 5.9 miUnpaved · 2.8 mi
Bendix Woods North2.4 mi
Bendix Woods East1.5 mi
Bendix Woods West1.1 mi
Bendix Woods South0.8 mi
Raccon Run Hiking Trail0.6 mi
Central Trail0.5 mi
Big Tree Trail0.5 mi
Wildlife Loop0.4 mi
Lower Big Tree Trail0.3 mi
Hardwoods Loop Hiking Trail0.3 mi
4 more trails
Connector
0.2 miCarlisle Hill
0.2 miLookout Trail
0.2 miBlack Forest Trail
0.1 miLakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
17 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
17 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Bendix Woods Mountain Bike TrailBike route
5.9 miCourts & fields
4Baseball
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →4 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Olive Township: April, July 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 | 36 | 47 | 60 | 71 | 80 | 83 | 81 | 75 | 63 | 48 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.6 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 4.2 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 2.9 | 2.5 |
February is the driest month (2.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.2 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Olive Township →
Next door
Olive Township and its neighbors
Olive Township has the most mapped trails of the 7 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Olive Township25 miGreene Township17 miWarren Township4.8 miWills Township3.2 miGalien Township1.5 miLincoln Township0.2 miBertrand Township0.0 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olive Township | 1% | 0.4 | 119 | 35% | B− |
| Greene Township | 1% | 0.5 | under 1 | 4% | C− |
| Warren Township | 3% | 0.1 | 43 | 27% | C+ |
| Wills Township | under 1% | 0.1 | 37 | 2% | C− |
| Lincoln Township | 8% | under 0.1 | 3 | 1% | C− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Olive Township
Where can I hike in Olive Township?
The longest trail networks: Bendix Woods County Park, 10.5 miles; New Carlisle Memorial Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Olive Township is conserved land?
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.
Are dogs allowed on Olive Township’s trails?
Bendix Woods County Park and New Carlisle Memorial Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Olive Township?
17 miles of bike routes are on the map: 17 of shoulders and shared lanes. Named routes: Bendix Woods Mountain Bike Trail.
Is there public land near Olive Township?
9,553 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Olive Township or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 518 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Olive Township have?
Ahead of 51% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #187 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 Olive 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 →